When People Change
by melissagirlie23
Summary: A Hey Arnold! love story. This story has friendship, romance, complicaton, everything that makes a good story. Its my first story so make sure to leave comments to help make it better!
1. Goodbye

**This is my first fan fiction so let me know what you think! I'm gonna write the whole thing at once but I'm only gonna post one chapter a day so you guys will be is suspense…and also so I know what people think of the story before I keep posting. Ok so I hope you enjoy!**

Ch.1: Goodbye

Arnold and Gerald are walking to school.

"I have some news Gerald." Arnold said while looking at the ground.

"What kinda news?" asks Gerald.

"Bad news." Arnold confesses.

Gerald looks worried. "Alright man, spill it."

"I'm moving."

"You're _what?!_" yells Gerald so loud that people look out windows and doors to see what's happening.

"I'm moving Gerald."

"You can't be serious man! Where are you gonna go?"

"Well Gerald, now that I found my parents, I'm gonna go live with them."

"Do ya think you'll ever come back here Arnold?"

"We'll sure Gerald, I'll visit all the time."

"Nah man, I mean will ya ever move back here?"

"I dunno Gerald."

"Well, I'm gonna miss ya, man."

"Me too, Gerald. I'll miss everyone else too but they're my parents ya know? I've gone my whole life without them. Now that I've found them, I want to be able to be a real family together."

"Yeah I understand. But why couldn't they just move here?"

"Well they both just got really good jobs so they said that if I wanted to, I could come live with them but they can't come here for a few years because they say their jobs could take their careers to a whole new level. They did tell me they would pass up the opportunity and move here, but I told them I couldn't let them do that and I would move there with them."

"So when are ya movin?"

"This Saturday."

"This Saturday?! But that means we've only got two days left to hangout! Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I just found out this morning. My parents called and told me."

"Well we gotta do everything before you move!"

The whole time Gerald and Arnold were talking, Helga was following them. She heard it all. Phoebe came up to her when she was hiding behind a bench and asked what she was doing. Helga told her she dropped a quarter. She then told Phoebe that she "overheard" Arnold telling Gerald that he is moving. They continued walking to school while Helga's heart was silently breaking. Phoebe and Gerald had been getting really close lately so the whole walk to school all Phoebe could talk about was Gerald. Helga didn't really listen since he's all Phoebe can ever talk about. She was also preoccupied from because the boy she has loved since preschool is moving away for who knows how long? Arnold and Gerald spent the next two days playing baseball, eating ice cream, going to the park, riding bikes, and everything else they could think of. On Saturday the whole class, Gerald, Phoebe, Harold, Rhonda, Sid, Stinky, Nadine, Sheena, Eugene, Peapod kid, chocolate boy, Iggy, Mr. Simmons, and even Helga all came to say goodbye to Arnold.

That afternoon, Arnold left. Gerald was bummed so Phoebe comforted him leaving Helga by herself. Phoebe knows about Helga's feelings for Arnold, so it hurt Helga a little for Phoebe to just ditch her like that. Everyone else was bummed for the rest of the weekend. They all just sat together saying how things will be different now that Arnold wouldn't be there.

Helga was sitting outside the Sunset Arms boarding house thinking about Arnold when Lila came walking by. She noticed Helga looking upset and she asked her what was bothering her.

"Nothing is bothering me, not that it's any of _your _business." Helga said with a scowl.

"Okay, Helga. See you on Monday."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." she said. She scooted her knees up to her chin and put her arms on them then rested her chin on her arms. She looked around to make sure no one would hear her as she took her locket out from the inside of her dress. "Oh my love. Why must you leave me here to suffer. Why couldn't I just tell you how I feel. Why did I have to hide behind a rough exterior. Why didn't I just tell you how much I love and adore you? My dear, sweet, football head-"

"Hey Helga!" shouts Phoebe as she walks down the street with Gerald. Helga quickly shoves the locket in her dress and jumps up.

"Hey Pheebs." she says slightly irritated.

"Uh Gerald, I'll see you later okay? I need to talk to Helga."

"Sure no prob, babe. See ya," he kisses her," later Helga." he says in an unfriendly voice.

"Whatever tall-hair boy. Let's go to my house Pheebs."

"Going!"

Later at Helga's house, Helga tells Phoebe how heart-broken she is about Arnold moving.

"Oh Phoebe! What am I going to do?"

"Well Helga, considering the situation, I think maybe you should take this opportunity to, well, move on."

Helga looked at Phoebe, at first irritated that she would suggest Helga would stop liking the boy she's only loved and adored since preschool, but then she thought Phoebe made sense.

_Without the football head here to torment me because I can't tell him how I feel, I can really try to get over him. But how? I've never liked, or loved, anyone but him and I've felt this way forever! Why did he have to move? I should've just told him how I feel. I doubt he would have stayed here I mean after all, his parents have missed nine years of his life, but atleast he would know how I feel. Now I have to live like this forever! Atleast when he was here I still had the opportunity to tell him. Now I might never see him again! This is all too much for me. I don't _want _to get over him. If only I knew someone in the same situation who could help me. But who? _

Helga wanted to cry. Although Phoebe made sense, she had no way to help her move on from Arnold. Helga felt alone and told Phoebe she just felt like being alone. Phoebe made sure Helga really meant it. She did. Phoebe left Helga and went to hang out with Gerald.


	2. Somebody Knows

Helga decided to go for a walk in the park to clear her mind. She thought about how whenever she was upset, Arnold was around to ask her what was wrong and help her, but now, nobody was there to help. As she comes up to the park, she notices Lila laying in the grass watching the clouds.

_Oh great, little miss perfect is here. Maybe she won't notice me or maybe she'll just ignore me or-_

"Hi Helga," Lila says coming up to Helga, "isn't this just an ever so lovely day?"

"Yeah, sure." Helga says in a depressed tone.

"Is everything okay, Helga?"

"Everything is fine. Not that it's any of _your_ business." Helga said, regaining her usual mean spirit.

"Okay, Helga. I'll see you later." Lila happily says.

"Whatever."

Helga keeps walking through the park and thinking. She thought about the time she helped Arnold and Gerald save the neighborhood. She wished she hadn't taken back telling him she loves him. She also thought about how if she hadn't helped save the neighborhood, Arnold would've moved, but he moved anyway. She decided she would go get some ice cream from Slausen's. She walked inside and goes up to the counter to order a two scoop chocolate ice cream in a cone. The whole way there she was thinking about that ice cream and how good it will taste and was looking forward to it until, she looks around and sees Lila.

_What the heck is she doing here? Crimeny! She was at the park, she was walking by Arnold's house when I was there, now she's here too?_

"Hi Helga," Lila says, "funny seeing you here."

"Are you following me or something?" Helga crosses her arms and scowls.

"Why I'm ever so certain that I'm not following you Helga, I only came for some delicious ice cream."

"Then why do you keep showing up at the places I go to?" Helga said angrily.

"I am ever so certain that I don't know what you're talking about Helga." Lila says smiling.

"You were walking by Arnold's house earlier while I was there, you were at the park, and you're here! Explain that." Helga thinks she's trapped Lila.

"Well Helga, I was simply walking by Arnold's house because I was saying goodbye when I realized I dropped my house key a few blocks away. I went to pick it up and Arnold stopped to say goodbye while he and his parents drove away. Then I walked to the park. I just love to look at the clouds when the days are as perfect as today. Then I thought, it is such a perfect day for some ice cream at Slausen's, and here I am."

"Yeah, likely story. Well just make sure it doesn't happen again. I've got things to do and I don't have time to run into people every five minutes, especially you." Helga said angrily.

"Okay, Helga, see you later!" Lila said while walking out the door.

"I really hope not." Helga mumbled to herself.

Helga didn't feel like having ice cream anymore. Lila killed her appetite and she didn't want Lila to ruin the ice cream if she got it so she just went home. She got home and went inside to find her dad, Bob, asleep in his chair with the T.V. on and Miriam at the table asleep in a pile of drool. Helga walked up to her room, sat on her bed, and pulled her locket out the inside of her dress. For once in her whole life, she had nothing to say to the picture of the blonde boy. All she could do was stare into his half-lidded eyes and try not to cry. She couldn't hold in her tears anymore, she finally let them spill over her lids and down her cheeks. After a minute of crying, she stopped. She decided to check her new cell phone that Olga sent her a few months ago so they could talk to eachother all the time. Fortunately for Helga, Olga's phone broke so Helga got a new phone and she didn't even have to talk to her annoying sister. Her phone wasn't anything fancy or expensive, it was just a flip-phone. She picked it up and opened it. She noticed she had a text from some random number. She opened up the message and it said

**Hey Helga.**

She replied asking who it was.

**That's not important. I just want to talk.**

**Of course it's important. I don't want to waste my time talking to someone I don't know or that will only waste my time. How did you get my number anyway?**

**I have a question for you actually.**

**Answer mine first and ****_maybe_**** I'll answer yours.**

**Well I can't tell you who I am until you answer my question. But I got your number from your mom.**

_My mom?! What the heck? _

**So if you know me, do I know you?**

**Yes. **

**What is your question. And hurry up or I won't answer.**

**My question is, why didn't you tell him how you feel?**

**Tell who how I feel about what? **Helga started to get nervous. She only told Phoebe her secret and she knew Phoebe wouldn't tell anyone. Would she? She might tell Gerald if she did tell and if Gerald knew, everyone knew so this could be anyone!

**You know what and who I'm talking about Helga, don't deny it. You don't have to say who or what, all I want to know is why you never told him? He might not have moved if you had told him.**

Helga figured if this person already knew her secret than there was no harm in talking to them other than it annoyed her. But then again, they never actually said what her secret was or who it was about. But they did say he might not have moved and Arnold just moved. But then, it could just be someone trying to make her say she loves him just to laugh in her face later. She decided to reply anyway.

**Yeah, key word: might. **

**I only say might because we will never know since he moved already. **

**But you still aren't sure he would have stayed. **

Helga was almost shocked that she practically admitted her secret to a stranger, but she sort of liked talking to someone who was willing to listen. It scared her mostly that she didn't know who it was and the whole 4th grade class could be laughing at her right now. Another text came in and she read it.

**Helga, I think maybe what you need is to find someone else to love. Maybe you will forget Arnold.**

_Wow, this person really does know my secret. Oh my god! This person knows my secret! They better not tell anyone! _

**If you know my secret, then why haven't you told people?**

**Because I don't want to make you unhappy. My goal isn't to make everyone laugh at you or make fun of you like you think they will. It's to help you. Helga I hate to see you upset all the time and I want to help because I know what you're going through.**

**You do?**

**Yes. I didn't ****_love_**** him, but I really liked him and he left. I can help you move on. **

**Who did you like? And more importantly, who are you?**

**If you let me help you I will tell you.**

Helga thought about this for a few minutes. She thought it couldn't hurt since the person already knows her secret. They might as well be of some help to her since no one else was.

**Alright. You can help. But if I find out anyone knows my secret, you're gonna get it from ole Betsy! **She held her fist up to her phone as if trying to show the person through her phone that she meant she would hit them.

**I promise you Helga, I won't tell anyone.**

**How am I supposed to believe that? I don't know you.**

**Well I already know your secret so you're just going to have to trust me.**

**Whatever. **

**Friday after school I will be waiting outside your house. We can have a sleepover if you want.**

**I'll just see who you are first before you come inside my house. Especially for a sleepover. And why can't you just tell me tomorrow? Or now?**

**Because Helga, if I wait until Friday, you will see that I haven't told anyone. Therefore, you can trust me and you will talk to me.**

**Fine. Whatever. **

**Okay. See you on Friday, Bye Helga.**

**Yeah, bye.**

She closed her phone and laid on her bed on her back with her head on her pillow. She was staring at the ceiling while wondering who this person was. She could definitely eliminate Arnold. He wouldn't talk like that to her. It couldn't have been Phoebe because she talked to Phoebe earlier. It definitely wasn't Stinky, Sid, or Harold because they're too dumb to know her secret or talk that way to her. She couldn't think of anyone who talked like this person. After she thought for a while, then she looked outside and it was getting dark. Her stomach started growling so she got out of bed and walked downstairs to see if Miriam had woken up and made dinner yet. Bob was still asleep in his chair with the T.V. on and Miriam hadn't moved either. She was still asleep with her head on the table in a puddle of drool.

Helga was starving so she made herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She ate it and suddenly it was after ten o' clock so she went upstairs and got ready for bed. She got into bed and fell asleep. She started to dream about the person who was texting her. She dreamed that it was Friday after school and she was on the way home. She was nearing her house and there was a strange figure sitting on her porch. She kept walking toward her house when suddenly the figure started getting further away. The closer she got to her house, the farther the figure moved. She reached her house and stopped. The figure stopped. She started to run after it when suddenly she tripped. She fell right on her face. When she finally got to her feet, the figure was gone. She turned around and suddenly she saw the figure right next to her. It was blurry and dark so she couldn't tell who it was. She asked the figure who it was but it didn't say anything or move. She tried to touch it but it moved away from her reach. She started hearing laughter and she turned around. Suddenly the whole 4th grade class of P.S. 118 was standing around her laughing at her. The figure finally said something: I told you I wouldn't tell your secret. It's voice was really low pitched and scratchy. It started laughing along with the others.

Outside of her dream Helga was tossing and turning and threatening people in her sleep. She finally woke herself up and looked around, breathing hard. She looked at her phone and it said 6:22 a.m. She couldn't remember the last time she was up that early on a Saturday. She got comfortable in her bed and closed her eyes. She tried to sleep but she couldn't. She kept thinking about who this person she was texting would end up being. She wondered if she would even want to know. She got out of bed after twenty minutes of trying to sleep and thinking. She went downstairs to find that Miriam and Bob had finally gone to bed. She had some breakfast and thought about how she would fill her week until Friday after school. She knew she had a long week ahead of her. For the rest of Saturday, she sat in her room and glanced at her phone every five minutes waiting for a text from the person, she didn't get any, she went to the park to see if anyone might follow her to give her a clue as to who might be the mystery person. The park was full of people, there was no way she would find the person there. She went down to the lake and sat on the dock like she and Arnold did on Thanksgiving. She started thinking of all the times he helped her. She suddenly realized that he helped her a lot and the person who was texting her wanted to help her, and the person said they wouldn't tell anyone about her secret.

_Maybe it was Arnold. But how did he figure out my secret? And if he knew, why didn't he tell me before he left?! _

She decided it probably wasn't him because the person said they liked a _guy_ who left and the person said that they would be at her house on Friday and if Arnold moved, he wouldn't be at her house. Maybe the person wouldn't show up at all.

For the rest of the day, Helga walked around town thinking then went home for dinner. Miriam actually made dinner tonight, even if it wasn't edible. She and Bob ate anyway. Bob complained the whole time through dinner about everything, then he started talking about Olga. Miriam just agreed with whatever he said while Helga just ate with a scowl on her face and a few smart alec remarks to Bob. She went to bed after dinner. Sunday wasn't much different than Saturday. She walked around the park, she sat on a bench and thought, but then today, Phoebe called and wanted to hangout. Helga walked over to Phoebe's house and then she and Phoebe went to get ice cream. Phoebe got Helga caught up on everything happening with her and Gerald.

"We went to a movie the other day and Gerald put his arm around me like normal and held my hand as usual, but then after the movie, he kissed me! Oh, Helga, it was magical!" Phoebe told her.

Helga started thinking of all the times she kissed Arnold. She kissed him during the play of Romeo and Juliet, when they went on vacation at the same place and won the sand castle contest and got to be on Babewatch, and when she helped him save the neighborhood.

"Helga, are you listening?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah Pheebs. Tall-hair boy kissed you."

"Yes and it was our first kiss. Don't you care Helga?"

"Of course I care, I've just got a lot on my mind."

Phoebe noticed that Helga was looking ahead, dazed.

"Is everything okay, Helga? You seem distracted."

"Well, the other day, this person started texting me and saying they knew my secret."

"Oh dear, what did you do?"

"I texted them back and we started texting back and forth and basically what happened was the person knows how I feel and wants to help me so I'm meeting them on Friday."

"What?! How did they know your secret? Who is it?"

"I don't know Pheebs they just did and I don't know who it is, I'll find out on Friday."

"Oh gosh Helga, this doesn't sound very good."

"It's fine Pheebs. I'll be alright."

"I hope so. Make sure you call me right after the person leaves and tell me what happens."

"Will do Pheebs."

"Well I should probably be getting home, mother is preparing dinner and I don't want to miss it. Bye Helga."

"See ya Pheebs."

Helga went home after that. Bob was in the living room yelling at the T.V. and Miriam was passed out on the couch. Helga made herself some dinner then went upstairs. She read a book for a while and then went to sleep. Monday was a long day. Helga sat through school and while at school, she kept looking around to see anything peculiar. She thought there would be some clue as to who she was going to meet on Friday. After school, she went home, did her homework, had dinner, and went to bed. She did this same thing on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. All week, all she could think about was the mystery person. Every morning she woke up thinking about who it could be and every night she went to bed thinking about it. She even dreamed about it every night. Each dream was a little different than the last. Friday finally came and she couldn't wait till after school. During the night she couldn't sleep. She woke up every hour waiting for it to be time for school. It finally was and she got ready as fast as she could, had breakfast and ran to school as though that would make it go by faster. She got to school and waited. Finally it was time for class. She sat through class and it seemed like a lifetime before it was lunch. Lunch normally wasn't long enough, but today, lunch was way too long. After lunch Helga was happy that school was almost over. She sat through class, not paying attention to the teacher, and started thinking about Arnold again. She hadn't thought about him all week. Her feelings weren't changing but she was thinking about him less. Suddenly she realized that the person she was meeting really hadn't told anyone her secret.

School was finally over and Helga was on her way home. She wasn't in a hurry because she didn't want to get there too soon and the person not be there. She also wanted to take a last moment to figure out for herself who it was. She still had no clue. After she walked around for fifteen minutes, she finally headed home. She was getting close to her house but she couldn't see anyone. She was afraid that she didn't come home in time to meet the person and they left. She sat outside her house for a moment and looked around to see if anyone was coming. She got up after a few minutes and went inside. She went to her room and looked at her phone, but she didn't have any calls or texts. She decided to walk outside again and see if anyone was out there or on the way. She walked downstairs and opened the door and there stood the mystery person about to knock on the door.


	3. The Sleepover

**I hope this story isn't too predictable for everyone. I'm gonna try my best to keep it interesting. I hope everyone likes this chapter! Also, thanks to Nep2uune for all of the inspiring ideas! They have really helped me with this story. Sorry it's taken so long to post this chapter, I'll try to post the next chapter tomorrow.**

Of all people, Helga never thought in her wildest dreams that she would be opening the door to Lila. Helga knew that Lila knew her secret from the time that they were doing the play Romeo & Juliet. Lila was Juliet's understudy and Helga was the understudy for the understudy. Helga, of course, didn't want anyone kissing Arnold but her so she confesses her love for Arnold to Lila and Lila gives up the part in the play. Even after all of that, Helga still didn't expect it to be Lila because of the way she texted. They didn't say a single "ever so much" or even an "I'm certain" or any of that "sweetheart" talk she uses.

"Hey, Helga." Lila finally says in a more relaxed tone than usual.

Helga crosses her arms, raises her eyebrow, and relaxes to one side. She starts to open her mouth, but can't find the words to speak. Lila just stood there holding a green duffle bag that matched her dress and waited for Helga to find her voice.

"_L-L-Lila?!_" Helga exclaimed, "Y-You're the one who texted me?"

"I'm certain that I am, Helga."

"But, why would you want to help _me?_" Helga couldn't get a grasp on the situation.

"Because, Helga, I know what you are going through and I would hate for anyone to feel the way you do. I know we don't always get along, but that doesn't mean I can't be there for you and help you when you seem to have no one else to turn to."

"Umm, okay?" Helga says confused. She couldn't believe she was actually hearing Lila speaking like a normal human being.

"Well aren't you going to invite me in, Helga? I am looking forward to this ever so much!" Lila says with her usual perkiness returning.

"Um, what? Oh, oh right, uh okay." Helga stammered. Somewhere in the back of her mind she suspected it was Lila, but she wouldn't let that thought come up to the surface. Every time she pondered over who it was going to be, she wouldn't let herself think of it being Lila. She didn't want it to be her. While she moved out of the way to let Lila in, shut the door, and led Lila upstairs, she was thinking that she was actually glad and somewhat relieved that it turned out to be Lila because Lila already knew her secret so she wouldn't have to worry about her telling anyone and she wouldn't have to deal with another person knowing her secret. Once they reached Helga's room, she told Lila she could put her stuff down wherever. Lila carefully set her bag on the floor and turned around to look at Helga. She just stared back with a look of concern and discomfort. Lila noticed this and she tried to find a way to make the situation less awkward.

"So how did you manage to talk so normally?" she said in her usual crabby tone.

"I'm ever so certain that I don't know what you're talking about, Helga." Lila responded happily.

"Please, cut the crapola, you know exactly what I'm talking about. You do that _ever so certain _thing all the time and suddenly, in the texts and at my door, your…normal." Helga mocked.

"I really don't know what you mean, Helga." Lila said without a change in tone.

"Alright look. I'll be myself if you can be yourself. Just cut the "cute girl" act it's getting on my nerves." Helga knew that they weren't getting anywhere and at the rate they were going, the night would be a long one. Lila sighed before she responded and her smile left her face. She asked if she could sit on Helga's bed and Helga said she could. She sat at the foot of the bed and Helga sat down as far away from her as she could get on the side of her bed. There was a moment of silence before Helga spoke up. She knew that she had gotten through to Lila.

"So you said earlier that you know how I feel because you feel the same way?" Helga questioned Lila. All signs of anger or irritation left her voice. She sounded like her usual self when she isn't angry.

"Yes." Lila responded emotionlessly

"Well? What did you mean?"

Lila sighed heavily, "Well, you remember the time that I thought Arnold liked me liked me and I started to like him like him but then he told me he didn't like me-"

"Yeah, yeah and then you stopped liking him and he started to like you. What's your point?" Helga interrupted.

"Well, I never actually stopped liking him. The truth is, I've always liked him and I still do."

"Then why did you tell him you didn't like him after he started to like you?" Helga started to become interested.

"Because Helga, you like him and I didn't want to take him away from you. Even though you never actually told him, but still, I didn't want to be in the way in case you decided to tell him."

"Wow. That was, er, nice of you, Lila. T-Thanks," Helga said awkwardly, "Wait, you knew I liked him? I hadn't told you yet. How did you know?"

"Well, I overheard you talking to something heart-shaped and I heard you say that you loved a football headed boy, which I knew was Arnold. Suddenly everything made sense to me, I understood why you were always especially mean to him. I was never sure why you had to act that way but then I realized, you were the one who wrote "Arnold loves Lila" on the wall, not Arnold. After I found out that Arnold didn't like me, I was really hurt so I went to that wall and stared at the words Arnold loves Lila. The handwriting didn't match Arnold's and I saw that underneath my name, something was erased. I couldn't tell what it was but when I overheard you talking about Arnold, I was pretty sure you wrote it and under Lila was your name. That was when I decided to take back what I said to Arnold about liking him."

"Wow. I don't know what to say. I'm impressed that you actually have a brain in that perfect little head of yours." Helga said jokingly.

"Well, Helga, I can honestly say I am _not_ perfect." Lila said softly but seriously.

"Are you _kidding me?!_ You're the _definition_ of perfect! You get straight A's in school, you're popular, all the boys like you, and even Arnold likes you! You have absolutely no flaws except always being so perfect!" As Helga said this she jumped off her bed and started pacing the floor. Once she finished saying this, she plopped back on her bed.

"I have to work really hard to get straight A's, they don't just come naturally, and you remember my first day! All the kids hated me until you talked to them."

"Then why do you put on this "I'm so perfect" act? Seems to me like you'd be better off just being yourself. I wouldn't hate you so much if you acted more…normal."

"You hate me, Helga?"

"Well, uh," Helga sighs, "No. I guess I don't _hate _you. You're not half bad, you know, when you aren't so perfect. So, why do you act that way?" Helga relaxed on her bed while she waited for Lila to answer.

"It's simple Helga, there's no reason to be negative about things that I can't do anything about. I get straight A's because I want them so I work hard for them. I only act the way I do because I like to try and be positive. It makes my life much better, even if it's not perfect. I'm not trying to pretend to be perfect, I just want people to like me and I want to be happy." Lila was trying not to cry at this point. Helga could see now that deep down, Lila was just as normal as everyone else. She was insecure just like everyone else. She was beginning to understand Lila more than she ever thought she would.

"I always suspected there was a real human inside you." Helga said sarcastically. Lila laughed and cheered up.

"Helga, umm, well," Lila couldn't get her words out for fear of what Helga might say.

"Spit it out already." Helga said in a friendly way.

"Do you think we could be friends? Not just friends who see eachother at school and say hi, but friends who hangout and share secrets?" Lila said hopefully. Helga didn't expect her to ask this, she wasn't really shocked, she was just not expecting her day to end with her becoming friends with Lila.

"Um, well, I guess that would be okay. As long as you don't tell anybody that I went all soft on you. I've got a reputation to protect and I can't have people thinking I'm nice."

"Okay, Helga. If that's what you want." Lila said in a cheerful tone.

"So what do we do now?" Helga asked.

"We can do makeovers if you want. I think that would be fun!"

"Um, okay." Helga shrugged. She was feeling really awkward having opened up to Lila. She never wanted anyone to see her like that, and now Lila had. Helga got out all her makeup that Olga had bought for her to practice with. Helga gave Lila a makeover first. She put on a light brown eyeshadow to bring out her blue eyes and some mascara. Then, she did her hair. She undid her braids and brushed out Lila's hair. She decided to leave it wavy. She then took a clip and pulled out the top half of Lila's hair and secured it. Helga told her not to look in the mirror until they were both finished. Now it's Helga's turn. Lila grabbed a light purple eyeshadow and sweeped it gently across Helga's lids. Next, she carefully put some mascara on her. Then she took out Helga's bow and brushed her hair down.

"Um, Helga?"

"What?"

"Do you think, I could maybe, give you a haircut?"

"What?! Are you crazy? What if you cut it crooked? Or accidently take a chunk out?"

"Oh don't worry Helga, I've cut hair before. I'm really good at it."

"Uh, I don't know about this Lila." Helga rubbed the back of her neck.

"Oh please Helga, it'll be fun! If I mess up, you can cut my hair." Lila was certain she would do a good job. She wasn't about to let Helga mess up her hair. Helga hesitated before answering.

"Well, I guess that would be okay. But you better not mess up!" Helga said in a friendly voice. She was a little worried, she didn't want to look like a total idiot.

"You can trust me, Helga." Lila grabbed a pair of scissors, had Helga turn her chair away from Lila so the back of her hair was facing Lila, and she started cutting Helga's hair. Slowly, Lila trimmed away as Helga watched the strands of hair fall all around her to the floor. Once Lila was finished, she had Helga turn around to face her. Lila squealed and jumped up and down. Helga grabbed her bow and asked Lila to put it in her hair. Lila wanted to ask why Helga always wore her pink bow, but she decided not to since she knew Helga already felt awkward enough. By now, Helga had gotten over her awkward feelings and she was having a lot of fun.

"Um, Lila? Could you do one more thing for me?" Helga asked, uncomfortably.

"Sure, Helga. What is it?" Lila asked sweetly.

"Well, I just thought, maybe you might, um, fix my eyebrow?" Helga couldn't think of a better way to ask her.

"Oh, sure Helga, no problem. Do you have any tweezers?"

"Yeah, I'll get 'em." Helga said as she got up and grabbed a pair of tweezers. She handed them to Lila and sat back down. Lila walked around to Helga's front and began tweezing. After about twenty minutes of plucking and Helga yelling ouch, Lila announced she was finished. Helga got up and led Lila to the bathroom. They both looked in the mirror, shocked at their appearances. Lila smiled and said, "Oh Helga, I look amazing!" While Helga looked in the mirror and was at a loss for words. She stared at the reflection that stared back. She couldn't believe how beautiful she looked. Her hair fell down to her waist with newly cut layers. The layers started at her shoulders and went all the way to the tips of her hair. Her eyebrow was now turned into eyebrows. She loved what Lila did and Lila loved what Helga did.

"Maybe we should keep our new looks, Helga. I mean we do look great? Don't you think so? Hel_ga_."

"Huh? Oh right, yeah. I just can't believe how great you made me look." Helga couldn't tear her eyes away from her reflection.

"Helga, you were always beautiful. A new look wouldn't change that." Lila said.

"Yeah, right. So, I'm getting hungry. Let's go get some food since obviously Miriam isn't gonna cook." Helga said while her stomach was growling.

"Okay, Helga." Lila didn't question why she called her parents by their first names or why her parents didn't really do anything. She and Lila cleaned up everything and went to get some food. After they ate, they went back to Helga's house and decided to go to bed. Helga went to bed feeling content with her new friendship. Once they got past all of the awkward things, like talking about feelings, Helga realized that Lila would be a good person to be friends with. She was a lot of fun and pretty helpful with forgetting about Arnold. Of course, Helga could never forget Arnold, but atleast she could get her mind off him. She actually hoped that Lila and her would have a long and great friendship. She still felt kind of awkward about what happened with Lila, but she felt like it wasn't such a bad thing. She suddenly started to think about what the kids at school would think about her hanging around with Lila and looking so…different. She fell asleep and for the first night in a week, she dreamed of Arnold. She dreamt that Arnold hadn't moved and she confessed her love to him. He told her that he secretly loved her too and suddenly they were walking through the park holding hands and looking into eachothers eyes. They were about to kiss when Helga was shaken awake.

"Helga, wake up!"

"What, what's happening!"

"You were talking in your sleep."

"You woke me up for that?"

"You were talking about Arnold."

"So?"

"Well, I think it's best if you stop thinking about him and that includes in your dreams. That way you can move on."

"I can't help what I dream, Lila."

"I know, but I want to try and help you in any way I can."

"How to you plan to get me to stop dreaming if you aren't going to be here all the time?"

"I guess I can't prevent you're dreams, but when I'm here I can."

"Whatever. I'm going back to sleep." Helga said grumpily.

"Okay, Helga, but no dreaming about Arnold!" Lila said sarcastically. And with that, Helga and Lila fell back asleep.

**This chapter was kind of hard for me to write. Make sure to leave comments so I can improve this chapter. I tried to make it as realistic as possible. I hope everyone enjoyed it!**


	4. The New Helga

**Here's another chapter! Let me know what you think. I wasn't sure where I was going with this so let me know how it turned out. Also, sorry it has been taking me so long to update this story. I should get a few chapters done this weekend. **

On Monday morning, Helga was getting ready for school. She was hoping that nobody at school had heard about Lila sleeping over at her house. She started walking to school as Phoebe ran up to her.

"Helga! Helga! Oh my gosh, Helga!" Phoebe said as Helga turned around.

"What?" Helga said although she already knew why Phoebe had said 'Oh my gosh.'

"Helga, you look, amazing!" Phoebe said while staring at Helga's new appearance.

"Oh, really? Thanks," Helga said sincerely. She wasn't used to being complimented so Phoebe's compliment really meant a lot to her.

"Did you get your hair cut? Oh my! And you've gotten you're eyebrows done as well?"

"Uh, yeah. Turns out Lila was the creep who was texting me. She slept at my house Friday night and we gave eachother makeovers," Helga said as though it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Really? You let her stay over _and _give you a makeover_ and _you gave her one also? Wow, Helga. I'm quite impressed at the changes you've made in your life since Arnold moved." Phoebe said as she stared at Helga's new appearance.

"Thanks, Pheebs. Let's just hope everyone at school feels the same way," Helga said as she looked forward and tried to hide her worry.

"Oh I'm sure the kids at school will be most pleased with this "new" Helga."

"Hey, maybe they'll all love me and make me their queen," Helga said jokingly.

"Helga, don't you think maybe, since you have a new appearance and all, you might change the way you treat people? Perhaps if you're nicer to people, they might enjoy being around you and be able to share in your newly found self."

"Let's just get through today before I make any more changes," Helga said. She was in a good mood today, unlike her typical, sour mood. As the two best friends approached P.S. 118, Helga could feel the knots in her stomach growing tighter, twisting and turning. She could feel her hands and face perspiring as her hair started to stick to the back of her neck. She was trying her best not to let her true emotions come through to the surface, but the harder she tried, the worse it seemed to get. Finally, they reached the front steps of the school. Helga was very nervous now and Phoebe promised her she would stay by her side so Helga wouldn't have to face all of the cruel, judgmental stares she was sure she would get from the other kids. Helga walked up the steps and opened the door allowing Phoebe to go in first. Helga knew she couldn't hide behind Phoebe considering she was quite a lot taller than Phoebe, but she thought if Phoebe went first, maybe the brutal stares wouldn't be so hard to face. She thought maybe the kids would look at them and pretend they were all staring at Phoebe.

Phoebe walked inside the opened door and Helga followed as close behind as she could without tripping Phoebe or stepping on her shoes. She had her head down so she couldn't see the kids staring. She could feel their eyes on her as she walked down the hall. She heard whispers, "Is that _Helga?!_" and "That's Helga G. Pataki!" She couldn't make out what anyone else said about her, but she was certain that all of their comments were rude, arrogant, and down, right mean. Phoebe and Helga reached Phoebe's locker and Helga continued to cower behind Phoebe. She couldn't believe how weak she felt. She never behaved that way when she had a unibrow and pigtails, and now she was feeling exposed and afraid. The bell rang after what seemed like an hour and everyone scurried off to class. By now everyone had heard about Helga's new appearance and they wanted to get to class and see for themselves if it was true. Helga spotted Lila approaching her.

"Hey, Helga! Wow everyone just absolutely loves you're new look. Even Rhonda said that you look oh so fashionable." Lila said while clasping her books tightly with both arms and smiling.

"Really? I didn't think that the princess would approve. What exactly did she say," Helga asked while getting out her books.

"She said 'Helga actually looks not hideous. Of course no one could look good compared to yours truly.' But she liked the way you look and the boys were falling all over themselves to get to class and see you. Would you like me to walk to class with you? They haven't seen _my_ new look yet," Lila said with a smile.

"Uh sure, that'd be great," Helga said while shutting her locker.

She took a breath and started walking with Lila to class. Outside the door she could hear everyone's chatter. She heard Phoebe telling Gerald it was true about her look, she heard stinky say he 'never thought he'd see the day when Helga came to school looking dolled up,' and she heard Gerald saying he would see it to believe it. Once she walked through the door, everyone silenced. She and Lila took their seats and Mr. Simmons started class. A few people complimented Lila's new look, but everyone was too shocked with Helga's appearance that they ended up staring like mindless idiots.

"What are _you_ staring at?" Helga said to no one in particular. None of them could find the words to defend themselves and because of that, a few people only said 'you.'

"Well knock it off. There is nothing to stare at. Yeah so I wore my hair different and got it cut and I have two eyebrows now. What's the big deal?" Helga said as if she did this on a regular basis.

"Sorry Helga, it's just, you look, um, well, you uh-," Harold mumbled until Helga interrupted him. "Spit it out, pink boy, I don't have all day ya know."

"Well, it's just, you look sort of, pretty," Harold said sinking in his chair and turning red.

"Oh, uh, thanks," Helga said feeling embarrassed from being put on the spot in the middle of class.

"Okay class, I know we're all excited that Helga and Lila look different, but we've got a lot to do today so pay attention," Mr. Simmons said while grabbing a piece of chalk.

* * *

It was now lunch, and Helga was the topic of everyone's conversation. No one had realized that both Helga _and_ Lila looked different on the same day, so no one put that puzzle together. Helga was already sick of everyone asking what happened to her and if she was the real Helga. Helga told Lila she didn't want to sit by her today, she felt she had enough attention and she didn't want people all over her about being friends with Lila when they had already patronized her enough for one day.

By the end of the day, Helga felt like she was the bright, shiny, new toy in a kindergarten class; everyone wants to play with it, then at the end of the day, everyone has lost interest. Instead of praising her new look, people were now trying to say that Helga was just looking for attention. Helga wasn't sure how to feel. She didn't hate the attention when the day started, but now everyone was teasing her and she felt insecure and was wishing she hadn't ever changed her look. Finally Lila walked up to her while Helga stood at her locker and rotated the dial to the numbers of her combination. She opened her locked, practically threw her books in and slammed it shut.

"Is anything wrong Helga?" Lila asked with a look of worry washing across her face.

"Of course something is wrong," Helga said with tension in her voice.

"But Helga, what could be wrong? Everyone loved you today!" Lila said hopefully.

"Yeah, until lunch. Then they couldn't stand me anymore," Helga crossed her arms and wore her famous scowl as she said this.

"What are you talking about Helga? I thought today went wonderfully," Phoebe said with a look of worry growing.

"Yeah, right. It started out awkward and ended painfully. I knew this was a bad idea. No matter what I do, everyone will just end up hating me like they always have and always will. I'll see ya later Pheebs," Helga said softly as she walked away staring painfully at the ground.

"Okay, bye Helga!" Phoebe yelled as she watched Helga leave.

Helga walked home thinking about the events of the day. She couldn't help feeling like she wasted her time by allowing Lila to give her a makeover. She wanted to blame Lila for everything that happened, even though she knew deep down, it wasn't at all Lila's fault, and if anything, Lila was just trying to help. She had a sudden realization that she was changing, on the inside as well as the outside. She was much more relaxed in her tone and she hasn't been getting angry as much. She wasn't sure if she liked it or not. She did feel a lot happier, but she didn't think it would matter to anyone else.

Helga pulled herself out of her daze as she realized she was walking through the park. She didn't have a clue how she got there. She brushed the thought away and walked home. She reached her house, went inside, and went up to her room. She, then, sat on her bed and checked her phone. She had a text from Lila.

**Helga, can I come over? **Read the text from Lila.

**Sure.** Helga replied.

Approximately ten minutes later, Lila was at Helga's door patiently waiting. Helga let Lila in and the girls went to Helga's room.

"So… what did you want to talk to me about?" Helga asked curiously.

"Well I just wanted to make sure you were okay, considering what happen today." Lila said shying away at the mention of the day's events.

"I'm fine. Who cares what those idiots think." Helga said unconvincingly.

"Helga, if it bothers you, it's okay to talk about it. I'm here for you." Lila said hopefully.

"There's nothing to talk about! I'm fine!" Helga shouted, making Lila feel small.

"Okay, Helga," Lila said while looking down at her feet feeling defeated.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel bad. I just don't want to talk about it," Helga said.

"But, Helga, talking about it will make you feel better. I'm not going to tell anyone, you already know that," Lila said with hope returning to her voice.

"I know, but I hate talking about things. I lived it once so why would I want to re-live it?" Helga said while plopping down on her bed.

"Come on Helga, you'll feel better, I promise," Lila said sincerely.

Helga sighed then said, "Fine. When I got to school everyone stared. They apparently "loved" me at first, but by the time school was over, everyone was saying I just wanted attention. There, happy? I sure as heck am not," Helga said bitterly.

"Helga, I'm so sorry. But, I have to say Helga, people aren't used to you looking like this, so just give them time and they will adjust. I bet by tomorrow they won't even care. Maybe you should take the opportunity to try and be nice to everyone, then they will be nice to you," Lila suggested.

"I don't think that will matter. They'd hate me no matter what I did," Helga said in an angry manner.

"Oh Helga, you don't know that. You just have to try," Lila encouraged.

"I don't know. I guess I could try," Helga said, hating the idea.

After three hours of being at Helga's house, Lila finally left. Helga didn't want to look this way anymore and she didn't want to be nice to people especially when they were never nice to her.

Lila was proven to be right when the next day came, and not a single person paid any attention to Helga. They were all talking about Rhonda's new haircut. She got it cut into a short bob style. Helga was happy that nobody was making fun of her, but she sort of missed the attention she was getting. All day, in the back of her mind, she kept repeating to herself that she should try to be nice to just one person, just to see what happens. She was really hating the idea of being nice to anyone, but she knew Lila would never stop telling her to be nice if she didn't try and be nice. She was just starting to get used to Lila being around and she was really growing to like her. She didn't want to do anything to screw up her new friendship, since it actually made her feel good inside. She was afraid if she didn't at least try to be nice to someone, she would never hear the end of it and she would end up yelling at Lila and Lila would get mad at her. She didn't understand how she became so soft, especially towards Lila, but she did admit to herself that she didn't hate it.

She decided, since Rhonda was the one everyone was talking about today, that she would give her a compliment on her hair. She spent all afternoon sitting in class thinking about what she would say to her. She decided she would go with a simple 'Your hair looks nice' and then she would walk away really fast before anyone had the chance to say anything mean to her.

After school, she saw Rhonda standing by herself at her locker. Helga thought that would be the best opportunity to say something, since no one was around. Rhonda was fixing her hair in the mirror in her locker when she saw Helga's reflection suddenly appear behind her.

Rhonda turned around and said, "What do _you_ want?" with a look of hatred and power on her face.

"I-I," Helga took in a breath and said, with confidence, "I just wanted to say, your hair looks nice," with that said, Helga took off for the exit. She wanted to get out of there before Rhonda started laughing in her face and her attempt at being nice was turned into an argument.

Rhonda stopped Helga before she could get anywhere. She put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Helga, did you just say my hair looks nice? Were you actually trying to be, _nice_, to me? You? Helga Pataki?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess so," Helga said feeling nervous.

"But, why? You're always so, immature with your comments towards me. Suddenly you're acting like a totally different person," Rhonda said with curiosity.

"Well, I guess I'm just trying to change," Helga said defensively.

"Oh. Well, then I guess I have no choice but to accept your compliment. So, uh," Rhonda looks around to make sure no one is listening or watching, "Thanks," she said sounding almost sincere.

_Wow. She actually accepted my compliment. I didn't think that it would even make an impression on her but she seemed to actually like _nicer Helga_. Maybe there is something to this being nice thing. _

She still wasn't feeling comfortable with the changes that were happening in her life. She still couldn't figure out why she was changing, but she couldn't stop it, all she could do was accept it. She had a tough time with accepting it though. She figured if she ran into trouble with being nice, she could just ask Lila what to do.

* * *

Friday finally came and Phoebe was going to Helga's house after school. The last bell of the day rang and Phoebe and Helga were on their way to Helga's house. They reached her house and went up to her room. It felt good for Helga to hangout with Phoebe since they hadn't seen eachother much in the past two weeks.

"So, what's goin' on, Pheebs?" Helga said casually.

"I'd much rather hear about what has been happening with you, Helga?" Phoebe said curiously.

"What do ya mean? I'm the same ole Helga," Helga said.

"Helga, you aren't acting like yourself. I certainly do not think it is a bad thing, I actually rather like this new Helga, but you look different and I heard you were nice to Rhonda on Monday. I would have asked you sooner, but we haven't been spending time with eachother lately," Phoebe said guiltily.

"Oh, right. Well, I've been hangin' out with Lila so, I guess she's just rubbing off on me," Helga said with sudden realization that Lila has been the one responsible for her changing.

"Oh my, I didn't realize you were spending time getting acquainted with Lila. I thought you hated her," Phoebe said with a hint of pain in her voice.

"Well after she slept over here, I realized she wasn't so bad. We've been hanging out since and I guess she's just growing on me," Helga said calmly, not picking up on the pain in Phoebe's voice. Phoebe was the only person she ever really spent a lot of time with, therefore, Phoebe felt hurt by Helga's new friendship.

"Well, that's wonderful Helga, I'm very happy that you seem to be so much happier," Phoebe said sincerely.

"Thanks, Pheebs. Anyways, where's Geraldo?" Helga asked.

"Oh, he has gone away this weekend to visit Arnold," Phoebe said sadly. She hadn't been away from Gerald in a long time, aside from at night. The mention of Arnold's name made Helga straighten up. She hadn't heard about or thought about Arnold since Lila slept over. She hadn't even realized that she'd still worn her locket. It was mostly just force of habit for her, she never paid much attention to the picture of her beloved boy with the cornflower hair. It wasn't that she didn't still love him, she just had a lot of things happening with her. Phoebe had excused herself to the bathroom and Helga took the opportunity to pull out her locket and look at the picture of Arnold. She began talking to the picture.

_Oh my beloved. How sorry I am to have ignored you're presence for so long. Such shame is washed upon me for this indecency I have done you. I will ignore you no longer, for as long as I shall live. Perhaps one day, fate will be kind and bring us together yet again and then, I will find the strength in me to tell you that I-_

"Helga? Are you talking to someone?" Phoebe said as she walked into Helga's room.

Helga shoved her locket into her dress just before Phoebe could tell what she was doing.

"No, I-I was just reciting some, uh, poetry. Yeah, that's it, poetry," Helga stuttered unconvincingly.

"That did not sound like poetry to me, Helga. It sounded like you were talking about a certain person I mentioned earlier," Phoebe said, knowing what Helga was up to.

"I wasn't talking about anyone," Helga said. Phoebe knew better, but she decided not to dwell on the subject. Phoebe decided to stay the night at Helga's. She talked all night about Gerald until she fell asleep. Then Helga snuck into her closet with a flashlight. Why she didn't just go into the bathroom, she will never understand. She didn't want to wake Phoebe since she knew she was a light sleeper so she turned on the flashlight, pulled out her locket, and stared at the picture of the blonde boy with the half lidded gaze. He was always her Arnold; now who knows who he belongs to now. Helga fell asleep in her closet by accident. Phoebe woke up to use the bathroom and noticed the light coming from under Helga's closet and Helga missing from her bed. Phoebe opened the door to find Helga sleeping with her locket hugged close to her heart.

"Helga?" Phoebe said sleepily, but Helga didn't respond.

"Helga?" Phoebe said a little louder, this time nudging Helga with her foot.

"Huh, what?" Helga stirred awake. It took her a few seconds to realize what was happening. By the time she did, she jumped up and tried to think of ways to defend herself.

"Helga, why were you asleep in your closet?" Phoebe asked suspiciously.

"Oh, I, uh, just wanted to see what it'd be like to sleep in my closet," Helga said while avoiding contact with Phoebe's eyes.

"What is that hanging out of your pajamas, Helga?" Phoebe asked pointing to the locket that was partially exposed.

"Oh, uh, nothing. Just a locket. From, um, Olga," Helga said while fumbling to get her locket hidden away.

"If you say so, Helga," Phoebe said with a sly smile that suggested she knew exactly what was happening, after all, she did know.

"Come on Pheebs, let's just get back to sleep," Helga said more calmly while walking to her bed.

"Coming!" Phoebe said.

Helga couldn't wait till the weekend was over so Gerald would come back and tell Phoebe about his visit with Arnold and Phoebe would tell Helga about it. Helga fell asleep with Arnold on her mind and she, of course, dreamed of him. She dreamed that he flew to her house in a hot air balloon, picked her up, and took her to a deserted island for a romantic picnic on the beach. He was feeding her grapes and began to lean in for a kiss when she woke up.

**I hope this wasn't too boring or just a long page of nonsense. It definately won't be in the next few chapters, I hope!**


	5. Christmas Break

**Here is another chapter. I hope everyone is enjoying this story so far. **

Gerald's visit with Arnold over the weekend was wonderful according to Phoebe. They did everything they used to do before Arnold moved.

"It was just a normal weekend, as Gerald has told me. Well except for, Gerald told me that Arnold specifically asked about you."

"Really? What did he say?" Helga said a little too excited.

"He asked if you were doing alright. Gerald said he seemed worried about you," Phoebe said with a grin on her face.

This news cause butterflies to flutter like crazy in her stomach. She couldn't believe the boy she was nothing but mean to since she met him would worry about her.

"Did he mean it in an "I care" sort of way? Or was it more like he just wanted to know how everyone was and I was just part of the everyone?" Helga asked slightly worried.

"Gerald said he asked how everyone was and then he specifically asked how _you_ were. He really wanted to know if you were okay. He cares Helga, he does," Phoebe said with gleaming eyes.

"Oh, that's cool," Helga said trying to contain her excitement. She turned around and smiled to herself. Phoebe knew she was really excited, though.

* * *

The next week at school, Rhonda had told everyone about Helga's nice moment with her at her locker. They were all shocked and didn't believe it. Everyone came up to Helga and asked her if it was true. Helga, of course, felt awkward being crowded by a bunch of people. She tried her hardest not to let her feelings show. She could only seem to say 'Yeah, so what?' She didn't say it in a mean way, she just wished they wouldn't make such a big deal out of it.

All day long, people kept coming up to Helga to try and get her to be nice to them. She tried to, but at the end of the day she was tired of everyone. She wasn't mean to them, instead she tried to avoid them and made excuses when she couldn't avoid them, she would make excuses. She felt like being mean, but throughout the day she realized being nice really does make an impression on people and they seem to like 'nice Helga' a lot better than 'mean Helga.' She figured since she had already spent this much time trying to be nice, she might as well keep it up.

For the next few weeks, she tried little by little to become a nicer person. Every day she would do or say something nice to someone. She had already been nice to Rhonda, of course, so she moved on to everyone else since she wanted everyone to see she was trying to change. She was trying to get the hang of being nice and get comfortable with it and she wanted to take it slow since it was so new to her. She would compliment people when they got new clothes or changed the way they looked, such as a new hairstyle, she would occasionally say "hi" to people in the hall, and she even allowed Lila to sit by her at lunch. Before she tried to become nice, she didn't want anyone to know she was friends with Lila. Now, she didn't care who knew.

* * *

It's been two months since Arnold moved. Helga has been hanging out with Lila every week at school and after school. Phoebe had been joining them lately, because she and Gerald decided they had been neglecting their friends way too much and needed to spend some time apart. Gerald had been going to visit Arnold every weekend, but next week was Christmas so Arnold was coming to Hillwood this weekend for one week since he missed Thanksgiving, of course his grandma thinks it's the Fourth of July, and all the kids get two weeks off. They have a week off before the week of Christmas and Arnold was coming the week of Christmas, with his parents.

Helga has been nice for so long now, she is used to it and finally felt comfortable being that way. She was no longer controlling and everyone enjoyed being around her. Many people sat with her at lunch, usually all the girls such as Rhonda, Nadine, Sheena, and of course Lila and Phoebe, and occasionally Sid, Stinky, Harold, and Gerald sat with them. The table was very crammed when they all tried to sit together, but they had a lot of fun being around Helga so they never minded being a little uncomfortable.

Helga had made a ton of progress, especially considering Rhonda was willing to sit with her at lunch every single day. Helga enjoyed her new friends and she was happy with the changes she'd made. It took her a while, but she now sees that it was worth it.

* * *

Over the first week of the break everyone got for Christmas, Helga spent her time with Phoebe and Lila and a couple times, Gerald joined them. Two times, Lila was busy so it was just Helga, Phoebe, and Gerald. When Gerald was there, he actually liked being around Helga. After the three or four would hangout, Gerald would go home and call Arnold. The first call went something like this:

"Hey, man. I just got back from hangin' with Phoebe and Helga," Gerald would say casually as if he was always hanging around Helga.

"You were hanging out with _Helga?_ Helga Pataki? I thought you hated her," Arnold would reply.

"I did hate her, man, but she's changed. She's _nice_. To everyone. Even me! She still calls me names, but in a friendly way. I don't know what happened, but I gotta say, I like the new Helga. She's pretty cool," Gerald would say.

"Wow, that's awesome Gerald. I always knew deep down she was nice. I'm gonna have to see it to believe it though," Arnold would say.

"Well, you'll see this weekend," Gerald said excitedly.

"Yeah. Well I gotta go Gerald, later," Arnold replied.

The next time Gerald and Arnold talked about him hanging out with Helga, Arnold acted just as shocked even though he had already heard the same things before. He wouldn't believe it until he saw with his own eyes, Helga G. Pataki being nice to everyone. He was glad that she was finally breaking through her rough exterior and exposing the real Helga, especially since he is coming for Christmas because he didn't want his Christmas to be ruined over Helga's rude attitude towards him. He wasn't sure if she would be nice to him as well. He was somewhat excited to see Helga, mostly because he had heard from Gerald about her new appearance. He told Arnold that she was 'super-fine' and Arnold laughed. He wasn't convinced that Helga could change so much in such a short time. He was also excited to see her because he sort of missed her, just from being used to her always being around.

Lila would always help Helga keep up her appearance. She would trim her hair and fix her eyebrows regularly.

Throughout that week, when Helga wasn't with anyone, she would stare at her locket. At one point, Lila and Helga were supposed to hangout and Helga's mom let her in. She went up to Helga's room and the door was open. She walked in and saw Helga facing her window on her bed and staring at the heart shaped locket with the picture of the football headed boy. Helga hadn't heard Lila come in. It startled her when Lila spoke.

"Helga? Is that a locket with a picture of Arnold? I thought you had moved on from him," Lila said while crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

Helga shoved her locket in her dress before saying, "Uh, um, it's just, I," Helga stuttered searching for a cover up.

"It's okay, Helga. I know it isn't that easy getting over someone, but I really don't think you should be keeping that with you. Maybe you should get rid of it, or at least the picture. It will help you get over him," Lila suggested.

Helga thought about this for a moment before turning around, taking a big breath, and saying, in a depressed manner, "Maybe you're right, Lila." She didn't make eye contact while saying this. Instead, she just stared down at the picture in her hands.

After a few moments, Lila finally said, "Helga? Are you going to take the picture out now?" Lila asked curiously.

Helga looked up at Lila with big sad eyes. She couldn't bear the thought of getting rid of the picture she has depended on for so many years. Finally after ten minutes of staring from the picture to Lila and thinking over the situation, Helga started to pick at a side of the picture. She picked it slowly until it lifted up a tiny edge. She continued to slowly peel the picture off of the locket until it was finally all the way off. She looked at it and slowly handed it to Lila while saying goodbye in her mind as well as her heart. Lila took the picture and tore it up just in case Helga decided to pull it out of the trash and glue it back in. The picture was torn until it was unfixable. Helga felt sad, yet somehow, she felt a little bit better.

* * *

It was finally Saturday, the day Arnold was supposed to come to Hillwood. It was the longest day of Helga's life. Gerald and Phoebe were hanging out alone and Lila and Helga were hanging out too. Helga was lost in thought about how different Arnold might look, even though it had only been a couple months, but Helga changed in just a couple months, so maybe Arnold would look different or act different too. She had hoped he wouldn't because she loved him just the way he was.

After about four hours, Arnold finally got to town. Gerald went over to the Sunset Arms boarding house as soon as he got there. Phoebe left them so they could catch up and she went to hangout with Phoebe and Lila. They were at the park together sitting on a bench. Phoebe joined them and they all started talking. Phoebe was telling them what was different about Arnold. He basically looked the same as he did before. He still had blonde hair that stood up, he wore his hat, he had grown about an inch, and he dressed the same; in his red, plaid, button up shirt with the blue sweater over it and his blue jeans and black shoes. Helga was happy he hadn't changed the way he looks and she knew he would still be the very friendly boy she remembered him to be.

The three girls were at the park for about an hour before they decided to walk over to Helga's house. Twelve minutes after the girls got to her house, Gerald was texting Phoebe. He asked her if she, Lila, and Helga would meet him and Arnold so they could all catch up with him. They were planning to meet in a half an hour at Slausen's for ice cream.

Meanwhile, Arnold and Gerald had planned the whole thing out. They would plan to hangout to catch up, which they did, but the whole setup was planned so Arnold could see how different Helga was.

Finally, it was time to go meet the guys at Slausen's. The three spent the last half hour trying to make themselves look good, just for fun because that was what older girls did when they would hangout with guys. The girls left Helga's house and headed for Slausen's. As they approached, Helga started to get nervous. She caught sight of Arnold and couldn't tear her eyes away. To see him standing there, on the sidewalk, in the flesh, was amazing. She hadn't realized how much she missed seeing him every day at school.

Once Arnold caught sight of Helga, his eyebrows shot up and his jaw fell down. He couldn't take his eyes off her. She was so beautiful. He had always thought she was pretty, in a friendly way, but he never thought he would be calling her beautiful, even in a friendly way. Gerald elbowed his arm and gave him a look as if to say 'be cool, man' because he was practically drooling over Helga.

Arnold whispered to Gerald, "You didn't tell me she was going to look so…amazing."

Gerald shrugged. The girls walked up to the guys and they all went inside, got their ice cream, and sat at a table. Arnold kept glancing over at Helga every time she wasn't looking. Everybody else at the table saw him glance at her, though. They would all look at eachother and smile. They couldn't laugh because Helga would know something was up and Arnold would feel embarrassed. After they finished their ice cream, Phoebe decided to give Arnold and Helga some alone time so she excused herself to the bathroom. She winked at Gerald and suddenly he knew exactly what she was doing. He excused himself as well. They motioned for Lila to come with. Lila got up and followed, but she didn't think it was a good idea to leave them alone because she wanted Helga to get over Arnold.

"Guys, I don't think this is such a good idea. I think Helga needs to move on from Arnold, not like him even more," She said worriedly.

Gerald didn't know that Helga liked Arnold, he only knew that Arnold was curious about Helga. He didn't think Arnold liked Helga, but he knew Arnold wanted to talk to Helga.

"Helga likes Arnold?!" Gerald said with wide eyes.

"Oh gosh, I-I forgot that you didn't know. Please don't say anything to Arnold," Lila pleaded.

"No worries. I won't say a word," Gerald promised.

While the three of them were off talking, Arnold and Helga had a chance to talk as well.

"So, you look different," Arnold said casually.

"Uh yeah, it was thanks to Lila," Helga said.

"I can't believe you and Lila are friends. I can't really believe anything that has happened since I left, at least with you," he said.

"Yeah, well, like I said, it's all thanks to Lila," Helga said nicely.

"So when did you two become friends?" Arnold asked curiously.

"Not that long after you moved, actually. We just hung out and ended up…having a lot in common, then she gave me a makeover and I gave her one too, and I guess she has been rubbing off on me and I've been rubbing off on her," Helga said coolly.

At that moment Arnold felt as though it was his fault she was so mean all the time since she said after he moved she and Lila became friends and she changed. All it took was him leaving. He sank down in his seat a little.

"What's wrong, Arnold?" Helga asked.

Arnold glanced at Helga at the sound of his name. He wasn't used to her calling him Arnold.

"Well, it's just, I-I, I feel like it's sort of, _my_ fault, that you were always so mean," Arnold said nervously. He was enjoying Helga being nice to him and he was afraid if he said something that offended her, she would become mean again.

"Oh. It really wasn't your fault Arnold. It was just…," Helga paused trying to find a reliable excuse, "my family," Helga said, afraid Arnold wouldn't buy it.

"Oh, I understand. I just thought, you changed right after I left, so I felt like it was somehow my fault," Arnold said.

"It wasn't at all your fault," Helga said reassuringly.

"That's good, and by the way Helga, I really like the "new you." You look, uh, very…pretty, "He said nervously while rubbing the back of his neck, "and you're fun when you can just relax and be yourself," he said with a smile.

"Thanks football head," she said nicely returning the smile.

"I really missed you Helga," he started before he realized what he was saying, "I mean I missed everyone, uh, it's just good to see you, Helga," Arnold started to blush.

Helga smiled and said, "It's good to see you too, Arnold."

In the back of Slausen's, Gerald, Phoebe, and Lila were waiting, watching Arnold and Helga to make sure it was going okay. They were waiting for the right moment to go back, unfortunately, that moment never came. They stood there watching and waiting for the longest time.

Things for Arnold and Helga were going very well.

"So, how have you been, Arnold?" Helga asked.

Arnold liked it when Helga would say his name.

"I've been great Helga, has you're family been treating you better?" Arnold asked.

"Not at all, but I have many friends now so if things get bad I can talk to them or go to their house or something," she replied.

"That's good, I'm happy for you Helga," Arnold said sincerely.

Helga laid her arms on the table as Arnold sat up.

"So, what did you ask for, for Christmas?" Arnold asked Helga.

"Actually, all I asked for was a new bow. Mine has been getting a little worn out," Helga said pointing to her bow.

"I've always liked your bow," he said while laying a hand on hers to let her know how much he meant that.

Helga wasn't expecting him to lay his hand on hers. She tensed up slightly, then relaxed again.

"I know. You told me in preschool, remember?" Helga asked while staring at their hands.

Quickly, Arnold pulled away his hand, feeling awkward. He stopped to think for a minute about him telling her he liked her bow. Helga decided to say something that might jog his memory.

"Remember, it was the first day of preschool and I had to walk to school. It was pouring rain and you offered to share your umbrella with me, then you told me you liked my bow," Helga said.

"Oh yeah, I remember that now," Arnold said while thinking about that day, "so, why didn't you ever stop wearing your bow?"

"I don't know, I guess I just love this bow too," Helga said afraid that he would see through her and discover her secret.

At this point, the three standing in the back of the store decided to re-join Arnold and Helga. The group decided to call it a night and the guys walk the girls to their houses, first to Lila's house, then to Phoebe's, where she and Gerald kissed for what seemed like an hour, then Gerald left Arnold and Helga after they dropped Phoebe off. Arnold walked with Helga to her house. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes until Arnold decided to say something.

"I had a really good time with you tonight," he said.

"I had a good time too," she replied.

Arnold wasn't sure what he was feeling, but he knew it was something good. He didn't think he was starting to like her, but he was happy being around her. He wasn't completely repulsed by the idea of liking her, but he didn't want to start liking her since he didn't live in Hillwood. The two reached Helga's front door.

"We should hangout again sometime before I leave," Arnold suggested.

"Yeah, that would be great," Helga said sincerely.

"Well, see ya later, Helga," Arnold said while taking Helga's appearance in one last time before he left her.

"See ya football head," she said with a smile and what Arnold thought was a wink.

He thought she might be flirting with him, but he wasn't sure what to do so he just gave her a smile. The two locked eyes. After half of a minute, Arnold shook his head, realizing he was lost in Helga's blue eyes. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea so he said goodbye again and left her at her door. She stood there wishing he would come back and sweep her up and plant a kiss on her face, but that didn't happen. Instead, Helga went to her room and texted Phoebe all about her and Arnold's conversation and about what happened when he walked her home.

**That's wonderful Helga! I'm so sorry that it had to end that way though**, Phoebe said.

**It's alright, Pheebs. I didn't really want anything major to happen, after all, he doesn't live here so it wouldn't work out. **

**Oh I understand, Helga. **

**Yeah, well I'll see you later, Pheebs.**

**Okay, Helga.**

After that, Helga lay in bed and went over everything that happened today. She was happy with the way everything went, even if nothing happened between them. She felt relieved that she could finally show Arnold the real her, and she had a feeling that Arnold did like her considering the way he touched her hand and the way he gazed into her eyes as they stood outside of her door. She fell asleep with a smile on her face.


	6. Christmas

**Here's another chapter for you guys. I hope you all enjoy it.**

It was Monday, the day before Christmas. Helga woke up in a great mood. She realized she hadn't told Lila about what happened last night with Arnold so she picked up her phone to text her. She opened her phone and noticed Lila had already texted her a couple times.

**Hey Helga, so how did it go last night? Did anything happen because I really don't think you should let anything happen. **Lila said.

**No nothing happened other than he walked me home and we said we would hangout again. **Helga replied.

**You mean like a date? ** Lila asked worriedly.

**No not a date. Just two friends hanging out. You and Phoebe and Gerald can come too if you want. I don't know when or where. **

**Okay, sounds good. Then I won't have to worry about anything happening between you two.**

**Lila, do you still like Arnold?**

**No, I don't think I like him anymore. I just don't want you to get hurt, you're my best friend and I would hate for you to be upset over him. I know that you could have a long distance relationship with him, but I think it would be healthier for you to just forget about liking him.**

**I know. I'm just happy me and him can be friends. I'll talk to you later Lila.**

**Bye, Helga.**

As soon as Helga put her phone down, she got another text. She figured it was Lila again, but this time it was Phoebe.

**Hi, Helga. Arnold asked Gerald and me to the movies this afternoon and he wanted me to invite you and Lila, would you like to go? **

**Sure, Pheebs. I'll ask Lila too.**

Helga sends Lila a text, but Lila said she couldn't because she and her dad were heading back to her hometown for Christmas and she wouldn't be back until the day after Christmas. Helga went over to Phoebe's house so Arnold and Gerald could pick them up there instead of going to Helga's and to Phoebe's. Helga had planned to stay the night at Phoebe's house. The girls waited for the guys and they talked about how it was going with Phoebe and Gerald and what it would be like if Helga and Arnold were together. Helga remembered Lila's words of wisdom and decided to change the subject when they started talking about her and Arnold.

"You always want to talk about Arnold, why don't you now?" Phoebe asked curiously.

"I just, think it's best if I stop liking him," She replied while staring at her hands lying in her lap.

"Helga, you've liked him for practically your whole life! You're just going to stop liking him?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah. He is too far away for us to have a real relationship and besides, I don't even think he likes me," Helga replied sadly.

"He might. Gerald told me that he talked about you a few times after he went back to his house last night," Phoebe replied.

"Phoebe, I'm serious. I don't think I should talk about him anymore," Helga said.

"Okay, sorry Helga," Phoebe said awkwardly.

"It's fine Pheebs. Well, they should be here soon," Helga said emotionlessly.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Sunset Arms boarding house, Arnold and Gerald were hanging out before the movie. Arnold had told Gerald what happened at Slausen's when he and Helga were alone and he told him what happened when he walked Helga home. He told him how they reached her door and suddenly he was lost in her eyes.

"Are you sayin' you like her, man?" Gerald asked with a raised brow.

"No, no, well, I don't think I like her. No, I don't like her. I'm just saying, it was weird," Arnold replied.

"If you're feelin' like that, then maybe we shouldn't go," Gerald suggested.

"Maybe you're right Gerald, but we can't cancel now, it's almost time for the movie. Maybe it won't be so bad I mean after all, we're gonna be watching the movie so it'll be quiet and dark so I won't be tempted to look at her. I guess it'll be fine. We better go Gerald, it's almost time for the movie," Arnold said while standing up.

The two best friends walked to Phoebe's house and picked up the girls. The four walked to the movie theatre and looked at the choices. Phoebe wanted to see a romance, of course, Gerald wanted to see an action movie, Helga wanted to see a horror movie, and Arnold said he would see whatever everyone else wanted to see. The four finally decided to see Evil Twin IV. Phoebe was a little worried since scary movies gave her nightmares, but Gerald promised to keep her safe. The four went inside and found their seats. Helga and Arnold barely said a word to eachother while walking to the movies and while sitting in the theatre. After the movie, however, Arnold and Helga were talking nonstop about their favorite parts of the movie. Phoebe covered her eyes through most of it and Gerald was mostly focused on Phoebe. It was just after seven when the movie ended, so they decided to go and get some pizza and head back to the boarding house to hangout for a while and eat. On the way to the restaurant, Phoebe and Gerald were walking together and holding hands, while Arnold and Helga were walking behind them discussing which pizza toppings they loved and hated and the movie.

Once they reached the pizza place, they argued over what pizza toppings they would all agree on for ten minutes until they decided to just get a pepperoni. They walked back to the boarding house and headed up to Arnold's old room. It was just as he left it before he moved. Arnold took his remote and flipped out the couch, then everyone grabbed a slice of pizza and plopped on the couch. Phoebe and Gerald were starting to get on Arnold and Helga's nerves from all the romantic things they kept doing right in front of them. They always held hands and kissed and fed eachother and it was getting annoying. They weren't going to say anything of course because they were happy that their best friends were so happy together, but when Gerald and Phoebe weren't looking, Helga would look at Arnold or he would look at her and make faces at the two of them and mock them. They didn't mean it in a mean way, but in an awkward way to keep from having to watch them. Gerald and Phoebe knew that they were making faces, but they didn't care.

After they finished eating Helga and Phoebe decided to leave. Gerald kissed Phoebe goodbye and Arnold awkwardly said goodbye to Helga while trying to avoid eye contact with her. The girls left and went back to Phoebe's house. Phoebe really wanted to know how Helga was feeling about Arnold.

"I just feel like…he's a good friend. I haven't gotten over my feelings, but I'm trying to," Helga said.

"Then maybe you should try and find someone else, you know, to take your mind off him and help you move on. Maybe not a boyfriend he could just be a friend," Phoebe suggested.

Helga thought about that for a minute before agreeing. It was a little hard for Phoebe to adjust to Helga not liking Arnold, but she wasn't about to tell her what to do or get in the way of what Helga wanted. She could see the good in Helga not liking Arnold anymore, and the rest of the night, Phoebe thought about Helga not liking Arnold anymore. She couldn't wrap her head around that, considering she has loved Arnold for a very long time. She figured she might as well get used to it since it seemed to be what Helga really wanted.

It was Christmas morning and Phoebe and Helga were exchanging gifts with eachother to open later. They had planned to spend the whole day together, just the two of them. They were basically going to hangout and talk all day, then Helga would go home afterward to spend Christmas night with her family, even if her family isn't that great.

Arnold and Gerald had planned to do the same thing as Phoebe and Helga, hangout then go home to celebrate Christmas with their families. The four then realized that it wouldn't be much of a Christmas if they didn't all spend time with eachother, so they decided to meet up at the park and spend the day together. Phoebe and Gerald had Christmas presents for eachother. Gerald gave Phoebe a necklace with a small, blue sapphire stone, while Phoebe gave Gerald a very expensive watch with his name carved on the back side.

"Woah, this musta cost a fortune! Thanks, babe!" Gerald said while giving Phoebe a big hug.

"Oh it was no problem," she said while blushing, "Thank you for this beautiful necklace."

"Only the best for my girl," Gerald said while helping put the necklace on her.

Arnold and Helga looked at eachother awkwardly while Phoebe and Gerald exchanged gifts. Arnold smiled at Helga and she smiled back. For the rest of the time they were going to hangout, the group walked all over town, talked, and ate lunch. Around three o'clock, they decided to get to their families and spend the rest of the afternoon and evening with them. They walked to Phoebe's house to drop off Phoebe and pick up Helga's things, then they went to Helga's house. Once they reached Helga's house, Arnold told Gerald he'd see him later. Helga didn't know why Arnold would want to be alone with her, and it made her a little nervous. Gerald knew what was going on, he and Arnold did their signature handshake and Gerald looked at Helga with a sly smile that told her he knew everything that was about to happen. The look he gave her made her a little more nervous. As soon as Gerald was gone, Arnold pulled a small pink box out of his pocket and handed it to Helga.

"What's this?" She asked while accepting the box.

"Just a Christmas present. Put it under your tree for later. I hope you like it," Arnold said with a smile.

"I'm sure I will, but I feel bad, I didn't get you anything," Helga said guiltily.

"It's fine, I didn't expect you to get me anything. Oh, before I forget, here's the card to go with it," Arnold pulled out a white envelope and handed it to Helga.

Helga takes the card from Arnold, "Thanks, football head." Helga said with a smile.

"See ya later, Helga," Arnold says while starting to walk home.

"Bye, Arnold," Helga replied.

Arnold glanced at her at the sound of his name, then continued on home. Helga went inside and up to her room. Her sister Olga wasn't coming home this Christmas, but she sent Helga and her parent's presents. Helga got a large box with purple wrapping paper and a pink satin ribbon tied neatly around it. Since Olga wasn't coming home, Helga's parents forgot that it was even Christmas which means, they didn't buy a tree and they forgot to buy presents. When they received Olga's presents, they went out and bought a few presents to send to her. They didn't buy anything for Helga, of course, which means Helga was really glad that at least Arnold and Phoebe had given her presents. Helga felt lonely since she had no one to open presents with or eat Christmas dinner with. She texted Phoebe and asked if she could celebrate with her and her family. Phoebe, of course, said yes. Helga grabbed her three presents and the card from Arnold and Headed to her house. When she got there, she placed her presents under Pheobe's small tree. The tree was about as big as Helga with colorful decorations and a large star on top. Helga couldn't remember ever seeing such a beautifully decorated tree besides in the windows of stores or fake trees with the decorations already on them. After placing her presents neatly under the tree, Phoebe and Helga began helping Phoebe's mom with cooking Christmas dinner. For dinner they were having a big spiral ham, green beans, and sweet potatoes and for desert, apple pie. Dinner was finally ready and Phoebe's family and Helga began eating. After dinner and desert, the girls helped clean up then hurried over to the tree to open presents. They sat on the ground and once Phoebe's parents were ready, they began to pass out presents. Helga had her three, Phoebe had three, and Phoebe's parents had seven all together. Most of her parents presents were sent to the both of them to share. Her parents opened their presents first. They got four kitchen appliances from family members, Phoebe's mom got a necklace from her dad, her dad got a watch from her mom which made Phoebe think about her relationship with Gerald; it was just like her parents, which made her smile. Phoebe gave her parents a crystal sculpture of the three of them together as a family. Phoebe said Helga should go next since she was the guest, but Helga said Phoebe should. Her parents told them to go at the same time since they had the same amount of presents. Helga was a little embarrassed to open the present from Arnold since she didn't know what it was and she didn't want to be the center of attention. Phoebe opened her first present from her parents, it was a junior chemistry set.

"Oh, it's just what I wanted! Thank you, mother and father!" Phoebe squealed while hugging her parents.

Helga then proceeded to open her first present. She opened the one Phoebe gave her first. It was a new heart shaped locket that had Best Friends inscribed on the outside. There was a button on the side that when clicked, opens up the locket. Inside was a picture of Helga and Phoebe together.

"Wow, Pheebs. This is awesome. You didn't have to go to so much trouble," Helga said while gazing lovingly at the treasure in her hands.

"It was no problem, you deserve it, Helga. I would have put Lila's picture in there with us, but it was a gift for you from me so I wanted it to be just between the two of us. I left the side on the left blank in case you wanted to put another picture in there of us or something," Phoebe said sweetly.

"Thanks, Pheebs," Helga said while putting it around her in place of her old locket.

It was Phoebe's turn to open a present. She opened the one Helga gave to her. Helga gave her a silk Japanese kimono. It wasn't much, but she knew how much Phoebe loved Japanese things. The kimono was a light peach color with birds and flowers on it. Phoebe tried it on and it fit her perfectly.

"Oh thank you, Helga! I love it!" Phoebe said while hugging her best friend.

"You're welcome, Pheebs. I know it's not much, but-"

"Helga, it's perfect! You don't have to spend a lot of money on a gift for it to be special," Phoebe informed her.

"I know, I just, wish I could've done more, I mean, you've done a lot for me, I wish I could do more for you," Helga said expressionlessly.

"It's wonderful Helga. You don't have to do anything for me. I think this gift is all I need," Phoebe said.

It was Helga's turn to open a present. This time she opened her present from Olga. It was a box of three French perfumes imported straight from France.

"Wow, this wasn't cheap. Olga really went all out," Helga said while trying to read the names on the bottles. Under the fancy written French words were translations into English. The first was called Famille, which means family, and it came in a large, red, glass bottle. The second was called Amitié, which means friendship, and it came in a large, purple, glass bottle. The last one was called Amour, which means love, and it came in a large, pink, glass bottle.

"Wow Helga, those are beautiful," Phoebe exclaimed while examining the box.

Helga felt something on the back of the box. She turned it around and noticed a card taped to the back. She carefully peeled the tape off and opened up the card from her sister Olga.

_Baby Sister, _

_I am sorry I could not be there this Christmas to celebrate with you, mommy, and daddy. I hope you can forgive me. I thought it was time you had your own collection of perfume to start using. These are the best that money can buy. I hope you appreciate them and take good care of them. I picked them out special for you because I wanted you to always remember you have me (your family), you have friends who care about you, and you are always loved. Merry Christmas, Helga._

_Love,_

_Olga._

Helga tucked the card back in the envelope and pulled out the perfumes carefully from the box. She picked up the perfume Famille and unscrewed the cap to smell it. It smelled like vanilla. She put the cap back on and put it away then she picked up the perfume called Amitié and unscrewed the cap. This one smelled like fruit. She put the cap back on and proceeded to open the next one called Amour. This one smelled like roses. She carefully placed all three bottles back into the box. It was Phoebe's turn to open her last present. She opened the present from her aunt, uncle, and cousins. This present was a large box, as big as Phoebe, wrapped in green and red wrapping paper. She lovingly took off the paper and began taking the tape off of the top of the box. The box was very heavy so Phoebe couldn't move it. She opened it up to thirty different books. They weren't any specific type of books, just a random selection of books that her family knew she would love. There were science books, books on anatomy, romances, tragedies, books on astrology, and even some encyclopedias.

"Wow, this is great!" Phoebe shouted while pulling all of the books out.

Phoebe showed everyone all of her books and then it was time for Helga's last present. She started with the card. She slowly opened it and pulled out a pink card. _He really went overboard on all the pink_, Helga thought with a smile. The card said:

Dear Helga,

I wanted to make sure you got what you wanted this Christmas since you can't really depend on your family to do that. I just wanted to say I've really enjoyed the new Helga. You're a really cool person and I'm very happy that you could finally let your real self out. I always knew there was something more to you than just anger. I hope you are happy with your new self. Enjoy your present, it wasn't easy to find. No one sells it anywhere. I had to go to fourteen different stores to find it. Merry Christmas, Helga.

-Arnold

Helga set the card down and picked up the small pink box with the pink satin ribbon tied around it. The box was small enough to fit in Helga's hands. She untied the ribbon and took the lid off of the box. Inside the box was a pink ribbon to replace her old bow. _Wow he remembered, _Helga thought while pulling the long pink ribbon out and tying it into a bow on top of her head.

"Aww, how sweet Helga," Phoebe said while clasping her hands together under her chin.

Helga smiled as the four started to clean up. Helga helped Phoebe haul her books and her other gifts up to her room. Then Helga gathered her gifts, thanked Phoebe and her parents for letting her spend Christmas with them, and she walked home.

* * *

The next day, the day after Christmas, Lila returned. She and Helga had realized that they forgot to give gifts to one another. They decided they would give eachother double the presents next time. For the rest of the Christmas break, Helga, Lila, Phoebe, Gerald, and Arnold hungout together. Every time the five would hangout, Arnold would look at Helga's bow and smile because he was happy she wore his gift every day.

Finally, it was Sunday. Arnold was supposed to go home today. He was packing his things as the three girls, Phoebe, Helga, and Lila, came to say goodbye. Gerald had spent the night so he was already there. Arnold did his signature handshake with Gerald and hugged the three girls. The four stood together watching Arnold leave, again.

**I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I have a ton of ideas for the rest of this story so make sure to keep reading!**


	7. A New Friend

**This chapter is pretty long, but I hope everyone likes it. Please let me know what you think.**

It was Monday and Helga was on her way to school. She got there and got her books from her locker when the bell rang. Everyone headed to class while Mr. Simmons instructed everyone to take their seats.

"Class, settle down. Everyone take their seats. Today is an exciting day because we have a new student joining our class. Please welcome your new classmate, Dean Maverick," Mr. Simmons said while starting to clap. The class joined in while they watched the new kid walk in.

He was a little taller than Helga, he dressed as cool as Sid, he was as polite as Arnold was, he was very smart, and all the girls instantly had crushes on him. He was like Lila, before she changed, only a boy. On Lila's first day, the girls hated her because she was as stylish as Rhonda, she was as smart as Phoebe, and all the boys liked her, all of that is still true, but she isn't so perfect anymore. Dean had short, dark brown hair that was neatly brushed into place across his forehead and straight down the back of his head. He was tan, he had blue eyes, and he wore a plain white shirt and black pants with black shoes. All the boys envied how cool he was. Mr. Simmons told him to take Arnold's old seat; right in front of Helga. She was mesmerized by him. He even smelled good. He turned around to face Helga and immediately Helga straightened up. Her face heated up as he studied her features. Suddenly she realized he was talking to her.

She shook her head and said, "What?"

"I said, hi," Dean said with a handsome voice. Helga almost melted as he spoke. She couldn't believe herself, normally she was a lot more kept together and now, she was falling all over herself.

"Oh, uh, hi," Helga said shyly.

"I'm Dean, as you probably know," he said calmly.

"I'm Helga," she replied trying to sound calm.

"That's an interesting name," Dean said with a smile.

"Thanks," Helga replied.

"Dean, I know you're new and anxious to get to know the rest of the class, but you must pay attention because you have a lot to catch up on. Why don't you help him Helga?" Mr. Simmons asked.

"Um, okay, I guess I could do that," Helga answered nervously.

Dean looked back and smiled. Helga gave him a really big smile.

At lunch, Helga sat with Lila and they talked about Dean. Phoebe was back to spending all her time with Gerald. Helga told Lila all about how she felt when he talked to her and how nervous he made her. Lila expressed how happy she was for Helga when Dean walked up with his lunch tray.

"Hi, I'm Dean," he said to Lila, "Do you girls mind if I sit with you?"

"No go ahead," Helga said a little too fast.

Dean smiled and laughed a small chuckle before taking a seat.

"So what is your name?" Dean asked Lila.

"Oh, I'm sorry, where are my manners, I'm Lila," she said.

"So, Lila, what are you so happy for Helga about, if you don't mind my asking?" Dean said while eating his turkey sandwich.

"Oh just some, uh, some girl things," Lila replied.

"Oh, gotcha. Uh, Helga, since you're supposed to help me catch up on the work I have to do, would you like to meet after school?" Dean asked.

"Sure that would be fine," Helga replied.

"Okay, where should we meet?" he asked.

"We could meet at the park if you want," she replied.

"Actually, I don't really know my way around so how about we walk there together after school?" Dean asked while drinking his carton of milk.

"Okay, that, uh, that sounds great," Helga said with a smile.

Lunch ended and everyone went back to class. Helga couldn't wait for the day to end. She was extremely excited about spending time with Dean. Lila was especially happy that Helga found someone to distract her from Arnold. School could not end soon enough. Helga sat in her desk and stared at the clock. Occasionally she stole glances at the back of Dean's head. She didn't know why she had to steal glances since he wouldn't even know she was staring at him. After what seemed like nine hours, school finally ended. Helga ran to her locker and practically threw her books in it and shut it. She didn't want it to seem like she was too eager to hangout with Dean so she went to the bathroom for a few minutes. She didn't want to recite a poem about Dean since she didn't know what to expect of their relationship and she didn't want to jinx it. Instead, she paced the floor thinking about what might happen at the park. She was only expecting for them to do homework together and afterwards he might walk her home. She wished that they would go for ice cream afterwards and he would walk her home and hold her hand, but she didn't want to rush it, after all, they just met. Finally, Helga decided to leave the bathroom. She didn't see Dean anywhere so she walked out the doors of the school to wait for him. She opened the doors and he was standing there on the sidewalk waiting for her.

"Look who decided to show up. I thought you were gonna ditch me," Dean said jokingly.

Helga smiled then said, "Maybe it wasn't me being slow, maybe it was you being impatient," Helga joked back.

"Well, we have a lot of work to do so we better get going," Dean said while waiting for Helga to lead him to the park.

"Okay, the park is this way," Helga said while starting to walk in the direction of the park.

They got to the park and sat on a bench. Dean pulled out an overstuffed folder of his homework he has to catch up on. Helga stared wide eyed as he pulled out paper after paper. She didn't think it would end, but finally it did.

"How are we supposed to get all of that done in one afternoon?" Helga asked.

"I guess we'll have to work together every afternoon until it's all finished," Dean replied with a smile.

He sat down and pulled out a pencil.

"What should we work on first?" Dean asked.

"Maybe we should organize them by class and do the subject with the most worksheets," Helga suggested.

"Sounds good to me," he said while grabbing a pile of papers.

As soon as they sorted all of the papers, they noticed that each subject had almost an equal amount of papers.

"Okay, new idea, how about we start with your least favorite subject," Helga suggested.

"That would be math," Dean said slightly embarrassed.

He and Helga began working on math. After two hours, they finally finished with math, unfortunately, they still had spelling, language arts, science, and history left. The two were tired of school work and Helga had homework of her own to do so they decided to stop and continue tomorrow. Dean offered to walk Helga home, but since he was new, he didn't know how to get to his house from hers so instead, she offered to walk with him to his house. They took their time getting to his house. They spent the whole time talking about who everyone at school is. They had a lot of time since Dean lives far from the park.

"So tell me about the kids at school," Dean said.

"Okay. Well there's Phoebe and Lila, which you've met, they're my best friends, you should really get to know them. Or at least Lila since Phoebe is always with Gerald. Gerald is her boyfriend, he's the guy with the tall hair, he's pretty cool. If there is ever a legend in this town, Gerald knows it. Then there's Sid, he's the kid with the backwards hat and the beetle boots. He can be overdramatic sometimes. Stinky is the really tall kid with the big nose and the green shirt. He's not a bad guy he's just…simple. Then there's Harold, he wears a backwards hat too, but his shirt doesn't fit him. He can be really annoying sometimes. Nadine is the girl with blonde hair and she always wears it in braids. She is obsessed with bugs. She hangs out with Sheena, the tallest girl in our class, she's like Stinky, simple. Then there's their leader, Rhonda. I never used to get along with her and I hated her, but now I know her a little better and I don't know, she's not bad. Rhonda is the girl with the black hair and the red sweater and black pants. She's the most popular girl in the fourth grade. Those are the people I usually talk to," Helga said.

Suddenly Dean stopped walking.

"Is something wrong?" Helga asked casually.

"No, were just at my house," Dean said with a chuckle.

"Oh, right," Helga said slightly embarrassed, "I guess I'll see you later then."

"Okay, bye Helga," he said while walking inside.

Helga watched Dean enter his house until he shut the door, then she smiled a crooked smile and headed home. Once she got home, she immediately called Lila and asked her to come over. She called Phoebe too, but she was busy with homework and told Helga to call her later. Lila got to Helga's house and they talked about Dean and about Helga's afternoon with Dean. She couldn't tell if he liked her or if he was only being nice because she was helping him.

"Do you like him, Helga?" Lila asked.

"He's alright. I don't know if I like him, but he's not bad," Helga replied. She thought he was adorable, but she wasn't lying when she said this. She really wasn't sure how she was feeling.

She wouldn't mind liking him because at least if she liked him, she might be able to tell him and avoid a repeat of her and Arnold. Lila was at Helga's house until seven o' clock, when she decided it was time for her to go home. Helga took this opportunity to call Phoebe. She told Phoebe pretty much exactly what she told Lila. Phoebe also wanted to know if she liked him and she told her what she told Lila. After a while of talking, they hung up and Helga finally did her homework.

* * *

The next day was just as long as the first. Helga was anxious to spend more time with Dean even if they were only doing homework. She began staring at the clock until it was lunchtime. Dean sat with her and Lila at lunch again.

"So, Helga, I was thinking today we could work on history," Dean said.

"Fine with me," she replied casually.

"How long have you live here, Lila?" he asked.

"Oh, I just moved here this year, a while ago," Lila said.

"What about you, Helga?" he asked.

"I've been here my whole life," she replied.

"Oh, that's cool," he replied while eating his mashed potatoes.

The group chatted for a while then the bell rang. The three walked together back to class, Lila on the right, Helga in the middle, and Dean next to Helga. Helga began daydreaming once they got into class. This time class went by quickly and before she knew it, Helga was putting her books into her locking and heading outside to meet Dean. She waited for a moment before realizing he was standing right behind her.

"Were you standing there the whole time?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I wanted to see if you would ever notice," he replied with a smile. Helga smiled back and looked down.

"So you ready to go?" Dean asked while taking a few steps towards the park as he waited for her to answer.

"Yeah, sure," she replied while following him.

They talked about school while they walked to the park. They reached the park and sat on the same bench as yesterday, and Dean pulled out his history worksheets and a pencil. They began working and every once in a while Helga would stare at Dean for a few seconds. Once, Dean caught her and he smiled to himself. After they finished working on history, they decided to finish for the day.

"Helga?" Dean asked.

"Yeah?" Helga replied.

"Would you mind showing me where I can get some ice cream?" Dean asked.

"Sure," she said while standing up.

They walked over to Slausen's. On the way there they talked about their favorite and least favorite ice cream flavors. By the time they reached Slausen's, they figured out that they both loved chocolate the best.

"I'll have two scoops of chocolate in a cone, please," Dean told the lady at the counter.

"Um, I guess I'll see you later then," Helga said while turning to leave.

"Wait, don't you want to join me?" Dean asked while paying for his treat.

"Uh, sure, but I thought you just wanted me to show you where it was," she said.

"I did, but that doesn't mean I don't wanna hangout with you, Helga," he replied.

Helga decided she might as well get an ice cream while she was there. Once she got her ice cream, the two sat down and talked. They asked each other questions, talked about school, and joked with each other. Eventually Dean asked Helga about her family. Helga decided she should just be upfront with him.

"My parents are both neglectful and they don't care about me. My sister Olga is the only one they care about. She's in Alaska right now," Helga replied.

"Why do you say your parents don't care about you?" Dean asked curiously.

"Because they don't. They ignore me every day. My dad is always calling me Olga and yelling at me when he does pay attention to me and my mom is always drinking her "smoothies" so she's usually passed out by the time I get home," she replied casually.

"I'm sorry, Helga," Dean said meaningfully.

"It's no big deal. So what's your home life like?" she asked.

"Well, my mom left my dad when I was little and my dad passed away two years ago so I've been living with my aunt," Dean replied casually.

"Oh, that must be tough," she stated.

"I do wish I could've gotten to know my mom and I wish things could've changed with my dad, but there's no reason to be upset about something I couldn't control. I love my aunt and I'm happy," he said with a smile.

"Man, I wish I could say the same. I mean I'm happy, but sometimes I feel like no one cares about me," she said.

"I'm a caring person, I care about you," he assured her.

Helga felt awkward at this point.

"Uh, maybe we should head home now," she said.

"Okay. I'll walk _you_ home today since you walked me home yesterday, and plus, I can find my way home today," he said while looking down, embarrassed.

"Um, okay," she said awkwardly, with a smile, while getting up.

They started walking towards Helga's house. Helga had asked him what subject he was planning for them to work on tomorrow and he told her he wanted to work on science.

"You know, Helga, after I catch up on all this work, I'm gonna have to catch up on my work for the week. Would you want to help me?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure. We can this weekend if you want, you know, so your caught up in time for school next week," Helga replied.

"That's what I planned," he agreed with a smile.

"Well, this is my house. See you tomorrow," she said while turning to walk up the few steps up to her door.

"See ya, Helga," he said while heading to his own house.

Helga went up to her room and decided not to call Lila yet. She worked on her homework instead and tried to get her head on straight. It wasn't easy to tell what Dean was feeling or thinking. She wondered what he thought of her, even as just a friend. She thought about him for a while and suddenly realized she had butterflies in her stomach and a smile glued on her face. She was starting to like him after all. She decided to call Lila and tell her everything. She called Phoebe as well. Phoebe had told her that Dean and Gerald hung out yesterday and today after he and Helga were through hanging out. She told Helga that they had gotten along great and Gerald had asked Dean what he thought of Helga.

"What did Dean say?" Helga asked casually as if it didn't even matter to her.

"He said he thought you were a really cool person and he thinks you are pretty," Phoebe said excitedly.

"Oh, that's cool, Pheebs," she said not trying to sound too excited.

"Does this mean you guys are going to date?" Phoebe blurted out. She couldn't control her excitement for Helga.

"What? No! I mean not that the idea disgusts me or anything, but we aren't. At least, as far as I know," she replied.

"Do you want to, Helga?" Phoebe asked.

"I haven't really thought about it," Helga looked at her clock which read nine thirty, "Listen, Pheebs, I gotta get to bed, I'll talk to ya tomorrow."

"Okay, bye, Helga," Phoebe said before the two hung up the phone. Helga went to bed right after she hung up with Phoebe.

The next day was basically the same as the first and second, school was long, Dean sat with Helga and Lila at lunch, school took a while to end and when it did, Helga went to her locker and put her books away. This time when she went to meet up outside with Dean she checked behind her to make sure he wasn't trying to trick her again. After everything was clear she walked outside and sat on the stairs waiting. It only took a minute for Dean to come outside. The two walked to the park like usual, sat on the same bench as always, and Dean pulled out all his science worksheets.

"Why do you always want to come to the park to work?" she asked.

"But we always sit on the same bench every day," she stated.

"I guess I just like the view from this bench," he said while surveying the park and taking in its natural beauty.

"Oh. Well, let's get started," Helga said while he turned his attention back to his work.

They worked on science for about an hour, then they were finished.

"Should we move on to the next subject or should we save that for tomorrow?" he asked her.

"I don't know, I mean, it is _your_ homework so, if you want to keep working that's fine with me," she said.

"I think we've done enough for today. We can just hangout, if that's okay with you, of course," he asked confidently as if he already knew the answer.

"Sure, that's fine with me," she replied.

They sat for a while and talked, then they walked around town and talked, then they got burgers and talked. They talked until six, when Dean decided he should get dinner for his aunt. He walked Helga home first and then he left. Helga didn't feel like calling Phoebe and Lila tonight. Instead, she went to her room, did her homework, and went to bed. The next day, Lila and Phoebe were nonstop with her questions about Helga's meeting with Dean. Helga didn't feel much like talking about it, since she'd been doing so all week and telling them almost the same things. She told them the same thing happened yesterday that has happened every time. The girls felt as though something bad happened that was causing Helga to be that way. Helga informed them that nothing happened, she just didn't have anything to say about it. She told them they simply went to the park and after they were done working on homework they talked, ate, and went home. Before anything else could be mentioned, the bell rang and everyone slowly made their way to class. They had begun a routine that was already becoming boring to Helga. She enjoyed Dean's company, she just wished something interesting would happen to get them out of the rut they were getting into. They would go to school, Helga, Lila, and Dean would eat lunch together, and after school Helga and Dean would walk to the park and work on homework. Today at lunch, Dean noticed Helga wasn't acting as excitable as she normally would. He didn't want her to feel bored of him so he decided to change things up. After school he told her they weren't going to the park today.

"Where are we going then?" Helga asked regaining her excitement.

Dean felt her excitement and he smiled.

"We're going to stop by my house," Dean replied with a coy smile.

"What for?" Helga asked nervously. She wasn't afraid to go to his house or meet his aunt, she just didn't know what to expect.

"You'll see," he said leading her to his house.

"What about your homework?" she asked.

She didn't really care about getting his homework done, she didn't want him to fall behind, she was just happy that they weren't doing the same thing again.

"I was planning to do spelling today. I don't think I'll need any help. I'm pretty good at spelling," he informed her.

They reached his house and he opened the door for Helga. She stepped inside and he followed right behind her. She stood inside the entryway of his house and looked around, amazed. His house was huge and decorated with beautiful paintings. His house was two stories high. The living room is to the right and the kitchen to the left. It reminded her of her own house. In fact, the design was exactly like her house, only larger and decorated very extravagantly. There were paintings everywhere, statues too, and the colors of the walls and carpet complimented the decorations wonderfully. Helga was absorbed in thought, taking in all the surroundings.

"I'm guessing you like everything?" he said questioningly.

"Yeah, it's really cool," Helga exaggerated.

Dean walked up the stairs and motioned for Helga to follow. He stopped a couple steps up and showed her the first painting on that wall. It was a mother cheetah and her baby. It was so realistic that Helga almost thought it was a painting. The second painting he showed her was a park with a few families having picnics in the grass under the shade of several trees. They made their way up the stairs and into his room.

"So, who painted all of those?" Helga asked while looking around his room.

His room was painted sky blue. There were a ton of pictures all over the wall in front of her. The other three walls were bare. His bed was up against the wall to the left and he had a desk on the right wall. His room wasn't what Helga expected after seeing the rest of his house.

"Actually, I painted them," he said trying not to sound too proud.

Helga's eyes widened and her mouth fell opened.

"Y-you painted those? They're amazing!" she said.

"Thanks. I love painting. I also took all of these pictures," he said while motioning towards the pictures.

After looking at the pictures for a minute, Helga said, "So, why did we come here?"

"I wanted to grab a few things. Then we can go to Slausen's if that's okay with you," he asked while grabbing something out of his desk.

"Fine with me," she said casually.

The two left his house and headed to Slausen's. She had no idea what he was planning. Once they got there, Dean asked Helga to sit in a booth. She walked over to a booth and got comfortable. Dean came over holding an easel, a blank canvas, paint brushes, paint, and a palette. Helga immediately knew what was happening.

"Are you gonna paint a portrait of me?" Helga asked in a disgusted way. She didn't mean to sound so disgusted by the idea, it was just nothing anyone would ever have done and not at all what she had expected.

"Yeah, is that okay with you? Cause if not, we can just eat and go home," he said slightly upset.

"No it's fine, go ahead," Helga said.

He sat down and set everything up. He began painting and after three hours, he was finished painting. He painted her in the booth. Helga loved the painting. He offered to give it to her.

"Sure, that'd be great," she said.

"Sorry if this seems weird, but I felt like you were getting bored with our routine so I thought I'd mix it up. I hope you don't feel weird about me painting you," he asked.

"No it's cool, I like it. Well, we should probably get going," she said.

They stood up and left. He walked her home again and gave her the painting before he left. This time Helga was very excited to tell Lila and Phoebe. They were very excited for her.

The next day, Dean and Helga decided to go back to their old routine. The two and Lila ate lunch together then after school he and Helga went to the park and worked on language arts. He was very good at writing which intrigued Helga because she was also great at writing.

"You're really good at this," Helga said while looking over his work.

"At what? Writing?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Yet another of my many talents. Well my only talents are writing and art," he said.

"Those are pretty good talents," she said.

"What kind of talents do you have, Helga?" he asked.

"I'm good at writing. Mostly poetry," she replied casually.

"Really? I'd love to see what you've written," he said excitedly.

"I don't know, maybe someday," she replied.

"Come on, you can show me," he said.

"I might, just not now," she replied.

"Okay, Helga," he said smiling.

They worked on language arts for a while. It didn't take long because Dean and Helga were both very good at it. After they finished, Dean told Helga he didn't have time to hang out with her today. She was a little disappointed since they had been spending so much time together. He couldn't walk her home either so she walked home alone, sad. She got home and did all of her homework. It was only five when she was finished, so she called Lila to come over. She came over and the two talked, got some dinner, and returned to their own houses. Once Helga got home, she called Phoebe. She answered, for once, and told Helga that Dean couldn't hang out with her because he was hanging out with Gerald. Helga questioned why he didn't tell her that, but she figured it was because it wasn't any of her business. Suddenly Helga realized she and Dean hadn't made plans to work on his homework tomorrow. She didn't have his number and since he wasn't at home, she couldn't go to his house and ask. She hoped he would just show up at her house tomorrow, ready to work. After Helga hung up with Phoebe, she noticed it was after ten and she was tired so she went to sleep.

* * *

The next day, Helga was excited to spend the whole day with Dean, that is if he shows up. She really enjoyed spending time with him. She woke up around nine thirty and had breakfast. She ate really slow thinking that time might go faster. She finished eating at ten fifty. She went up to her room and texted Phoebe to see if Dean had mentioned to Gerald anything about hanging out with her today. Phoebe said she hadn't talked to Gerald yet. Helga decided to head to the park and see if he was there. She walked outside and saw Dean coming up the sidewalk.

"Were you waiting for me?" he asked with a laugh.

"No, I was just going for a walk," Helga said defensively.

"I forgot to ask you about hanging out today. Do you want to? We don't have to do homework, I can do that myself, but if you want to just hangout we can," he suggested.

"Yeah, I'm kind of sick of homework," she informed him.

"So you wanna just hangout then?" he asked.

"Sure. What do you wanna do?" she asked.

"We could see a movie, or get some lunch, or we could see a movie and get some lunch," he suggested.

"Or we could get lunch at the movie," Helga replied jokingly. Dean laughed as did Helga.

"What do _you_ want to do?" he asked.

"Lunch and a movie is fine with me. What do you want to see?" she asked.

"I don't know. What movies are out?" he asked.

"I think the new Evil Twin movie is out," she suggested.

"Cool, you like scary movies? I pegged you for a romantic. No offense it's just, you wear pink, you look very girly, and you write poetry," he said.

"I guess you shouldn't assume anymore," she said with a smile.

"I guess not," he replied with a smile.

She began walking towards the movie theater and he followed. They talked about other kinds of movies they like and what they would eat at the movie and after the movie. They got to the theater, got two tickets, got a bunch of candy and popcorn, and found seats. They shared all their candy and popcorn since they liked the same candy and both loved popcorn.

"If you get scared, don't worry, I'll protect you," Dean said sarcastically.

"You'll probably be the one who needs protecting," Helga replied laughing.

He threw a couple pieces of popcorn at her. Two ladies walked in and noticed Dean and Helga. She smiled and as she walked by she told Helga and Dean they made an adorable couple.

"Oh we're not "together." We're just friends," Helga said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You guys should really think about it though, you'd make a cute couple," she suggested while taking a seat.

"Gwen, stop meddling in these kids' lives. I'm sorry about her kids, she loves to play matchmaker for everyone," the lady said while sitting by her friend.

The movie started just then. The movie had been out for a while, so Dean, Helga, and the other two ladies were the only ones in the theater. At one thirty, the movie was over. The two walked out of the theater and threw away their trash.

"What'd you think of the movie?" Dean asked.

"It was alright. It wasn't scary enough though," she replied.

"Yeah, no kidding," he said.

They began walking to get food. They decided to get tacos since they've had everything else. They finished eating at two thirty. They weren't sure what else to do so they just walked around town and talked. Helga was surprised that they still had things to talk about. Dean was very talkative, he never ran out of things to say. When he wasn't talking, Helga was. It was seven o' clock when they decided to go home. They were closest to Dean's house so they walked to his house and then Helga went home. When she got there, she had to tell Lila and Phoebe about her day. She texted them and they both said they were very happy she had a new friend. Helga went to bed after a while and had a tough time falling asleep. She kept thinking about Dean. She was really starting to like him. She finally fell asleep around midnight and didn't wake up until almost eleven in the morning. Since Dean said he would work on his homework by himself, Helga wasn't sure if they were going to hang out today. She wasn't tired of him, but she kind of wanted to spend today by herself. She'd been spending every day with him and she felt like having alone time. When her doorbell rang, she was a little upset. If it was him, wanting to hangout, she would just tell him she didn't feel like hanging out today. She opened the door and it was him.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked him.

"I just wanted to say hey and I wasn't sure if we were gonna hangout today," he said.

"Actually, I sort of don't feel like hanging out today, no offense," she said.

"Oh, that's cool. I really only came to ask you if you might wanna maybe…go out with me on Friday, like on a date?" he asked nervously. He was normally so calm and confident, but right then he seemed afraid and insecure. He immediately perked back up while waiting for Helga's answer.

"Umm, I-I well-"

"If you don't want to, that's fine," he said while looking down then looking back to her.

"No it's not that, it's just I wasn't expecting this," she replied quickly.

"Oh, so would you want to?" he asked again.

Helga took a deep breath and said, "Sure, sounds good."

He smiled at her and said, "Cool. We can work out the details later. See ya, Helga."

"Yeah, see ya," she replied while watching him walk away then gently shutting the door. She stood with her back up against the door and smiled to herself.

"Who was at the door?" Miriam asked.

"Nobody, just a friend," she said while hurrying up the stairs.

She walked into her room and immediately texted Phoebe and Lila, of course, and told them what happened. They were so excited they ran over to her house. The three talked all about her date with Dean on Friday. They decided to come over an hour before the date and help Helga get ready. They talked about where the date should be and went over different scenarios of how the date might go. The three talked for hours until Phoebe and Lila finally went home and Helga went to bed. She couldn't wait to get to sleep and see Dean tomorrow. She wondered if this meant he was her boyfriend or if they were just going on one date or if they were now "dating" but not in a serious way. She figured she would know somehow, either she could ask him or he would say something that gave her a hint as to their relationship status. All she knew right now is she had a date with a very nice and very cute boy.


	8. Dean and Helga

On Monday, Helga and Dean sat together at lunch and discussed details for their date on Friday. Dean wanted to take Helga to a nice restaurant, but Helga wanted to keep it simple.

"How about a movie?" Helga suggested.

"I don't think that would be a good first date. It should be more romantic. What about a picnic in the park?" he said hopefully.

"That actually sounds great," she replied.

Dean smiled and said, "How about I stop by your house around five and we can walk there together?"

"Sounds good," Helga said while smiling back.

Lila didn't sit with them because she didn't want to get in the way of planning their date. Helga felt bad that Lila didn't sit with her. They had sat together every day at lunch since they became friends, but today she sat with Rhonda, Nadine, and Sheena. Helga didn't want Lila to think that since she is going on a date with Dean that she doesn't have time for her anymore like Phoebe. Helga doesn't resent Phoebe for leaving her for Gerald because she is still there for her when she needs her. After school, Helga hung out with Lila. For the rest of the week, she and Dean would sit together at lunch and only twice did Lila join them, and after school she would hang out with Lila, except on Friday because Lila was leaving right after school with her dad for a trip out of town. Friday evening, of course, was Helga's date with Dean, and she was upset that Lila couldn't be there to help her get ready and support her. Phoebe came over, though, right after school. They had only an hour and a half before Dean was supposed to show up. Phoebe helped Helga fix her hair and her makeup. Phoebe curled Helga's hair lightly away from her face and put one coat of mascara on her lashes and a pink eye shadow. Her outfit was a light pink, button up, cotton shirt with a plain white shirt underneath, and a hot pink, bubble skirt that went to right above her knees. She also wore a pair of light pink flats. It took an hour and fifteen minutes, but she was finally ready. Helga was feeling nervous and for the next few minutes, Phoebe tried to keep her calm. Ten minutes before their date, the doorbell rang. Dean was early.

"You're early," Helga pointed out.

"Better to be early than late," he replied.

"I'll be going home now, bye Helga, bye Dean," Phoebe said while leaving Helga's house.

Helga stepped outside and closed her door.

"See ya, Pheebs," Helga said.

"Bye Phoebe," Dean said.

Dean looked at Helga and his eyes grew wide.

"You look…amazing, Helga."

"Thanks. You do too," she said shyly.

Dean did his hair the same as normal and he was wearing a white shirt and leather jacket, black jeans, and his usual white shoes and was carrying a picnic basket. Helga thought he smelled as though he was wearing cologne. Suddenly she remembered she didn't use her new perfume as she had planned to do.

"Can you hold on a minute, I uh, forgot something," she said while opening her door.

"Yeah, sure," he said.

Helga ran upstairs and threw her door open. She carefully grabbed the box that contained the perfume from her sister. She grabbed a random perfume and quickly sprayed her wrists and her shirt. It smelled like roses. She placed the perfume on her dresser and walked back and forth quickly in her room trying to get the perfume to dry. She didn't want him to think she ran all the way to her room just to smell good for him, even though that is exactly what she did. She came back down and walked outside. Dean smiled as she shut the door. He could smell her perfume and he liked that she put it on just for him. The two began to walk to the park. The sun was still out and the weather was nice. As they got closer to the park, they talked and suddenly Dean grabbed Helga's hand. She was shocked at the spark in their contact. Heat flushed through her veins from her hand through her body. She glanced at him to see his reaction. He was staring at her with his bright blue eyes. They got to the park and Dean lead Helga to the grass. He stopped under the shade of a large tree and set down the picnic basket. He opened it up and pulled out a giant red and white checkered blanket and spread it on the ground. He sat the basket on it and patted the spot across from him for Helga to sit on. She took her seat and watched as he carefully pulled out several containers and bags of food. He pulled out potato salad, sandwiches, fruit salad, salt crackers, two cups, sparkling cider, and for dessert, two large slices of chocolate cake.

"Wow, this looks great," Helga said looking over all the food.

"Thanks. I made the potato salad, sandwiches, and cake myself. I know it's not much, but it's picnic food," he said.

"It looks delicious."

She looked at him for a moment and he looked back at her wondering why she wasn't eating yet when suddenly he realized why.

"Oh, I'm sorry, here's a plate and forks and stuff," he said laughing and grabbing the two plates, napkins, plastic forks, knives, and spoons out of the basket.

Helga took the plate and filled it with food. She took a big scoop of potato salad and fruit salad and took a sandwich. Dean opened the crackers for them to share. He put the cake aside for after their meal. He opened up the sparkling cider, poured it into both cups and handed one to Helga. She started with the sandwich. It was turkey with mayonnaise on sourdough bread. The turkey wasn't lunch meat, it was real pieces of turkey meat.

"Did you buy this turkey?" Helga asked while taking a bite of her sandwich.

She still had the habit of talking with her mouth full. Dean thought it was kind of cute, or at least as cute as that can be.

"Technically I bought it, but it wasn't cooked. I cooked it in the oven and tore pieces off to put in sandwiches," he said casually while taking a bite of his potato salad.

"They're so good," Helga said.

Dean smiled. Helga tried the potato salad and was consumed by the amazing flavor.

"Oh. My. God. That was amazing," she said while taking another bite.

"It was my grandma's recipe. I learned to cook from her. I would visit her every weekend when I was little and she would teach me. She gave me all of her recipes and I made them into a book. They're family secrets, of course, so I can't share them," he said as he bit into his sandwich.

Helga saved the rest of the potato salad for last. She scarfed down her sandwich, fruit salad, and a few crackers, then dug into her potato salad. Dean had made a lot of it because he knew she would love it. After she finished what was on her plate, he handed her the whole container. She laughed and put more on her plate. She didn't want to seem like a pig so she only ate what was on her plate and left the rest of the potato salad in the container. She really wanted to eat up the rest, but she decided not to. She had to save room for the cake anyway.

"Ready for dessert?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah, sure," she said.

He picked up one of the slices of cake and took the plastic wrap off of it and handed it to Helga. She took her fork and cut a bite size piece off and ate it. The cake was two layers of chocolate, with chocolate frosting in between and on the top and sides. Once again, Helga was consumed in the sensation of flavor. It was so delicious.

"I see you like the cake too?" he said, observing her.

"Oh, uh, yeah," she said embarrassed. She hadn't realized she had been moaning over how good it was.

"I'm glad. I made it just for you," he said while taking a bite for himself.

"Let me guess, you're grandmas recipe?"

"Nope, my own recipe," he replied casually.

He was a very modest person. He didn't like bragging about his skills.

"Wow, that's impressive," she said.

"Thanks."

After they finished their cake and talked for a while, it became dark and cold. Helga had goose bumps from the cold and Dean took off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her for warmth. They decided they should head home since it was getting so cold. Dean and Helga threw away their trash and stuffed everything into the picnic basket. Dean held out his hand and Helga looked at it, smiled, and took his hand in hers. They headed for Helga's house, hand in hand, smiling. They reached her house and Helga turned and noticed he had a strange look on his face. She couldn't tell if it was a happy look or a look of pain. He smiled, but his eyes looked afraid.

"I had a great time Helga," he said almost nervously.

"I did too," she said becoming worried.

She didn't know what he was thinking that made him act this way. She realized it when he started to get closer to her. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. He pulled away and smiled quickly before saying a quick goodbye and walking away. Helga said bye to him as he left. She thought maybe he was just nervous about kissing her and he became shy. She thought that was why he looked strange and left early. What she didn't understand was why he only kissed her cheek. He didn't seem like the kind of guy to ever become shy. Helga told Phoebe all of this over the phone. Phoebe was a little surprised as well.

"What do you think Phoebe?" Helga asked.

"I don't know Helga. On one hand, he could have become shy, but on the other hand, it is possible that he didn't want to kiss you because he doesn't like you. I hate to have to disappoint you, Helga, but it is possible that either of those suggestions are true. It is also possible that you are overreacting Helga," Phoebe replied.

"I'm pretty sure it wasn't that he didn't want to kiss me or didn't like me because he didn't look that way the rest of the time. Maybe he was shy after all. But it just doesn't make sense why he would be shy about kissing my cheek," Helga said worriedly.

"I don't know Helga. Well I must be getting to bed. Bye Helga," Phoebe said.

It was around nine when Phoebe said this.

"Later Pheebs," Helga replied.

She decided to go to bed too. If she stayed up, she would end up worrying herself about Dean. It took her a while to fall asleep, but she did eventually.

The next day, Helga hung out with Phoebe at her house and on Sunday, Lila came home and the three girls hung out at Lila's house. Helga hadn't seen Dean all weekend. Normally she would have seen him walking down the street or he would've come to her house or something, but she didn't see him anywhere. She thought of a million reasons of why she hadn't seen him and she was still trying to figure out whether or not her date was good or bad. She had fun but the end of it was hard to tell. Lila thought she was just being silly and he was only being shy and on Monday she would see him and everything would be normal.

On Monday, Helga went to school and got there a little early so she could try and talk to Dean. He wasn't at school yet. The bell rang and she still didn't see Dean. She walked to class and took her seat, but still no Dean. Class started and Helga was afraid she did something wrong and Dean was avoiding her. After twenty minutes, Dean finally showed up. Mr. Simmons welcomed him to class and he took his seat in front of Helga. He smiled at her sincerely as he sat down. Helga felt a little better; she didn't feel like he was avoiding her, but she still felt tension between them. At lunch, she decided to confront him. She told Lila she wanted to speak to Dean alone and she would let her know when she could come sit with her. Dean took his time getting to Helga's table. He sat down and avoided eye contact with her. Helga decided she should start the conversation.

"What's up?" she said.

"Not much," he replied, still avoiding eye contact.

"Are you okay?" she asked, worriedly.

"I'm fine," he said, while pushing food around on his tray.

"You don't seem fine."

"Well I am," he replied sounding annoyed.

Why was he acting this way? Helga couldn't figure it out.

"You know, if you don't want to sit by me, you don't have to," Helga said, feeling hurt.

At that, he looked at her. He immediately perked back up.

His expression was calm as he smiled at her and said, "Helga, why wouldn't I want to sit with you?"

"I don't know. Ever since Friday night, you seem upset. Did I do something wrong?" she asked.

"No, not at all, I just had a rough weekend. Which reminds me, would you like to go to a movie with me this Friday?"

"Uh, sure, sounds good," she replied cautiously.

She was curious about his subject change and his behavior, but she shrugged the thought away and waved for Lila to come sit with them. For the rest of the lunch period, Dean, Helga, and Lila talked as usual. For the rest of the week, during lunch, the three sat together and after school, Lila, Helga, and Phoebe hung out. On Friday, Helga got herself ready for the movie with Dean. She didn't feel awkward with him like she did in the beginning of the week. She didn't feel tension between them either. She was really looking forward to her date. She hoped he would give her a real kiss this time. She thought if he didn't, she might have to kiss him herself. For her date, she looked the same as she usually does. She wore her normal pink dress with the white shirt underneath and her white shoes. She wore her hair down like she usually does since Lila gave her a makeover, and she wore a little bit of makeup like normal. She remembered to wear perfume this time. She grabbed a random bottle and sprayed her wrists. It must have been the same one she wore before because it smelled like roses. Dean was coming by at six and the two were going to see a scary movie called The Darkness is Coming. He showed up early as he did before and they walked to the movie together. They bought their tickets and snacks and found two seats. They talked before the movie and Dean held Helga's hand. The movie started and Dean decided to put his arm around Helga and she leaned close to him. They were still holding hands. She liked the feeling she had being with him. She felt safe and happy. She really liked being with him, though they weren't officially dating yet. She hoped he would ask her to be his girlfriend and then kiss her for real.

After the movie was over, Dean walked Helga home. They were still holding hands as they walked out of the theater and to her house. They reached her house and Helga tried not to get her hopes up waiting for a kiss that might never come. They stood outside her door and looked at each other for a few seconds before Dean finally said something.

"Did you have a good time?" he asked confidently.

"Yeah it was fun," she replied sincerely.

"I had fun too. So Helga…" he started.

"Yeah?" she said. She thought this was it, he was going to ask her to be his girlfriend. She almost couldn't contain her excitement.

"I think for our third date, we should go to a nice dinner. What do ya say?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, I guess that's fine," she said slightly disappointed.

"Cool. How about we go on Saturday instead of Friday?"

"Okay, yeah," she replied.

"Alright. I'll be here at the same time. See you on Monday, Helga," he said.

He leaned in and her excitement rushed back almost too quickly. She braced herself, closed her eyes and felt his lips on her cheek. He didn't give her a real kiss nor did he ask her to be his girlfriend. She was a little upset, but she decided he probably just wants to take things slow. He obviously likes her since he keeps asking her on dates. She told Lila and Phoebe about her date, as usual, then went to bed. That week went as usual. The only difference was, at lunch, Dean would sit right next to Helga and he would hold her hand. Saturday came quicker than expected for Helga. This time she asked for both Lila and Phoebe's help in getting ready. She wasn't used to going to fancy restaurants, of course, so she needed their help in deciding the appropriate outfit and hairstyle. They decided on a pink dress that had tank top style sleeves, the bodice was tight, but not so tight she couldn't breathe or move, and just above the waist it flowed out into several layers of fabric. It came down to just above her knees and had glitter all over it. She decided to wear matching purple heels. They were only an inch tall; she didn't like heels usually, but when she bought the dress, they were the only matching shoes so she got them. It was almost time for him to pick her up and they still had to fix her hair. They quickly piled her hair on top of her head and fastened it into a messy bun with two strands of hair on either side of her head pulled down into curls.

He was a few minutes early, like normal, and he was dressed in a nice button up shirt, black suit pants, and black shoes. She didn't know where they were going for dinner; he wanted it to be a surprise. He told her she looked beautiful and she told him he cleaned up nice. Of course she meant this sarcastically since he always dressed nicely, but never this nice. He reached his hand out for her to take and led her to the restaurant. He took her to Chez Paris. They went in and were seated immediately. The waiter handed them menus and asked if they wanted drinks. They both asked for Yahoo sodas.

"Very good, sir, madam," the waiter said in his thick, French accent as he walked away.

"So why did you pick this restaurant?" Helga asked as the waiter came by with their two sodas and a basket of breadsticks.

"I asked someone what restaurants were good and he said this one was great," he said while picking up a breadstick.

"Yeah, it is great," she said while picking up her menu and opening it up.

"What do you think you'll have Helga?" he asked while also looking at his menu.

"I'm not sure. I think I might just have some spaghetti with meatballs."

"That sounds great. How about we get the large serving and split it?" he asked.

"Okay," she said while looking at him with a smile.

At that moment, the waiter came back and asked what they wanted to eat. Dean told him they were going to split the large serving of spaghetti. They waiter took their menus and left. Unfortunately, the romantic moment Helga was hoping for in the spaghetti between her and Dean was ruined. The waiter brought the spaghetti on two plates. He must have thought when Dean said they would split the spaghetti that he wanted it split in half on two separate plates. Dean said thank you to the waiter anyway and accepted the spaghetti. Helga was a little disappointed. She thought they might get the same noodle in both their mouths and end in a kiss. That dream was shattered, but the night had only just begun. She could still get a kiss after the meal. Dean looked at her, shrugged, and gave a half smile as he noticed her look of disappointment in the separate plates of spaghetti. As they ate their meal, Helga began telling Dean all about the restaurants in town. She told him which ones to check out and which ones to avoid. She even told him about the time she won free dinner tickets to Chez Pierre and she took Arnold, Gerald, and Phoebe, but they accidently ended up at the restaurant they are at now, Chez Paris, and they ended up having to do dishes to pay for the meal. She left out the part where she thought Arnold might have been flirting with her when he sprayed her with water while they were washing dishes, of course. After a while of talking, they finally finished dinner and decided to order dessert. The two shared a slice of cheesecake. The waiter brought it and they ate it quickly. It was creamy and rich and now it was gone. The waiter brought the bill and it was fifty dollars and some change.

"Are you sure you can afford all of this? I can help pay for some if you can't," Helga offered.

"No it's cool. I got it," Dean said as he grabbed his wallet and pulled a platinum credit card out.

Helga stared wide eyed. She barely got an allowance and he had his own credit card. She knew it was his because in silver, popped out letters read his name.

"You have your own credit card?" she asked stunned with a raised brow.

"Yeah," he replied casually.

"Can you use it whenever you want? For anything?" she asked curiously.

She didn't sound as though she wanted him to buy her things, she sounded genuinely interested in knowing how he or his aunt could afford to spend money whenever they wanted.

"Yeah. I guess I never mentioned my aunt is rich. She is also an artist. The paintings at my house that I didn't show you were all done by her and that's where our money comes from," he said.

"That's pretty cool," she said sincerely.

They paid the bill and left. It was nice outside as they strolled down the sidewalk hand in hand.

"That was fun," Dean said.

"Yeah, it was," Helga said with a smile.

"You're pretty cool, Helga."

"Thanks," she said while blushing, feeling self-conscious.

"I really like you," he said confidently.

"I…really like you, too," Helga said shyly.

They reached Helga's house as soon as they both said this. They stood there and suddenly Dean started to move closer to Helga until his body was just inches from hers. He lifted his hands to her face and Helga looked into his eyes. She closed her eyes and suddenly felt his lips press against hers. She stood there frozen in the moment. It seemed as though time had stopped in this one perfect moment. Heat rushed through her body in an electrifying wave of excitement and fear. It was such an intense moment, it took the breath away from her. Their kiss seemed to last a half hour when really it was only a few seconds. Dean slowly pulled away and opened his eyes. He studied Helga's face for some sort of reaction. All Helga could manage to do is stare dazedly back into his blue eyes. She had a lazy smile that stretched from one end of her face to the other and a half lidded gaze. Her knees pointed inward and her hands hung down by her sides. He could tell she was pleased.

A few seconds after he pulled away, Helga dreamily said, "Wow," and continued to smile.

Dean smiled and laughed. Helga was on cloud nine.

"Helga, can I ask you something?"

Helga came back down into reality and shook her head and blinked her eyes and said, "Huh, what?"

"I said, can I ask you something?"

"Oh, yeah sure, if you don't count asking me if you can ask something," she said with a laugh.

"Do you want to be my girlfriend, Helga?" he asked with a slightly unconfident look on his face.

Helga paused for a moment. She already knew her answer, she just didn't want to seem to eager.

"Yes, I would love to," she said as she hugged him.

"Great. So since you're my girlfriend, do you think I could have your number?" he asked as she pulled out of the embrace.

"Sure," she said.

He had a pen in his pocket that he handed her. She took it and wrote on his hand, her number.

"I'll text you," he said with a smile.

He leaned in again and gave her a quick peck on the lips before he walked home. He walked backwards a few steps to look at Helga as he left. He turned around and went home. It was only seven thirty when he left. Helga leaned against her door and sighed happily. He finally kissed her and he's her boyfriend now too. She couldn't wait to tell Lila and Phoebe, but first, she had to get herself under control. She was still a little dizzy from the kiss they shared and every time she stood to walk her legs would shake and she would walk unsteadily. She got her grip and went inside and up to her room to tell the girls to come over. She wanted to keep the suspense and felt it would be better told in person. Helga told them she had news about her and Dean and the girls ran over expecting the worst. They were relieved when they found out it wasn't bad news Helga had, it was great news. They decided to have a sleepover so they could talk all night about Helga and Dean. Phoebe's mom and Lila's dad dropped off their clothes and things. The three stayed up until one in the morning talking. Lila and Phoebe kept asking Helga to repeat scenes from her date. They enjoyed listening to her describe her every feeling. Right before they fell asleep, they began talking about how things were between Phoebe and Gerald. Phoebe had informed them that things were going great as usual and she really liked Gerald a lot. The three fell asleep and in the morning, Lila told the girls she had some good news. She told them that while she was out of town last weekend, she met a boy. They exchanged phone numbers and had been texting and on Friday, he told her he was moving to Hillwood soon and wanted to know if she wanted to go out with him. Helga was a little hurt that she didn't tell her before, but she was happy for her.

"So he's moving here just for you?" Helga asked worriedly.

It was a little intense for a nine year old to move to a whole new town just for a girl.

"No, no, his dad got a job here and they were planning to move here way before I met him," she replied.

"Oh. So when's he moving here?" Helga asked.

"Next weekend," she replied, smiling.

"What's his name, Lila?" Phoebe asked sweetly.

"Yeah, come on, give us details," Helga said.

"Well his name is Wilson. He is very mature. He is nine years old, but he's in fifth grade because he is very smart. He is a little taller than me and he has short, blonde, curly hair and he wears black, rectangle glasses. He wears a dark blue, long sleeve shirt and blue jeans and black shoes. He is also very nice," Lila said, sophisticatedly.

"He sounds wonderful, Lila, I'm very happy for you," Phoebe said.

"Yeah, that's awesome, Lila," Helga said.

They talked about Wilson for a while, then Lila expressed her happiness about all of them being in relationships. Of course, Lila isn't necessarily "in a relationship" with Wilson, but she was happy to not be the third wheel or fifth wheel anymore since both Phoebe and Helga had boyfriends. She was also happy that she had a romantic interest and if it didn't work out, she was happy to at least have a new friend. Phoebe and Helga couldn't wait to meet Wilson and Lila couldn't wait for him to move to Hillwood. Helga worried that if she started dating Wilson, she'd stop hanging out with her. She didn't tell Lila this, but Lila promised Helga that nothing would change between them, as nothing has changed since Dean moved to town. Around one o'clock, Phoebe and Lila left Helga's. An hour after they left, Dean texted Helga.

**Helga, I need to talk to you. Can we meet?**

Immediately Helga panicked. She began to wonder what was going to happen. Was he going to break up with her? He couldn't, they just started dating last night! Her heart raced as she texted him back. She messed up the message a few times from her hands shaking. She almost wanted to cry, but she stopped herself, seeing as she didn't even know what he was going to say.

**Yeah. I'll meet you at the park.**

She got up and walked down the stairs and out the front door. She took her time getting to the park. She was anticipating the news he was to share with her. She got closer to the park and saw him sitting on a bench with his back turned to her. She approached him and he heard her footsteps, but didn't turn around.

"H-hey," she said nervously.

Her stomach was twisting into nervous knots.

She heard him sniff and weakly he said, "Hey."

Obviously something was wrong with him.

"What'd you need to t-talk to me about?"

He turned around, but kept his head low. She couldn't see his face.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

He was silent for a moment then said, "No."

"What's wrong?" she said caringly.

He wiped his eyes then looked at her. He had been crying. His eyes were puffy, red, and wet. Helga sat down facing forward and swallowed hard. A million thoughts raced through her mind. She thought he was moving and it broke his heart to leave her or maybe he was just having a hard time breaking up with her. Either way, she thought he was dumping her. She decided she should try and hug him to comfort him. She reached her arms out and scooted closer to him. He turned away from her caring gesture. Helga felt as though she had been punched in the stomach. She was trying to be there for him and he was shutting her out. She now knew he was breaking up with her, otherwise he would've let her hug him.

"I'm sorry, Helga. I didn't mean to make you feel bad. This is just really hard to say," he said, sniffling.

"Just say it," Helga said, in a depressed manner.

She braced herself for when it would come. He was her first boyfriend, and it was already ending. She waited for a few minutes, thinking about how she might feel and what his excuse might be.

Finally he took in a deep breath and tried to get his words out, but all he managed was, "I-I, my, I."

Then he sighed and tried to calm himself down and get his head on straight. He turned to face her again and grabbed both of her hands in his. She was choking back tears. She didn't know if her tears were sympathy tears for him, or hurt tears for herself. He stared at their hands for a minute then looked directly into Helga's eyes. His eyes were soft and broken looking. Quietly, he mumbled something inaudible to Helga.

"W-what?" Helga said in a high pitched voice.

"I said," tears began to spill over his lids and his voice was weak again, "my aunt died."

Helga stared at him with feelings of both shock and relief. She didn't know what to do or what to say. She hadn't had much experience comforting people. She told him she was sorry and tried to sound sincere. He lowered his head again and turned to face forward.

"What are you gonna do?" she asked worriedly.

"I don't know," he replied quietly.

"Are you gonna be okay?" she asked.

He was still holding one of her hands. He had a tight grip. Helga was so glad he wasn't breaking up with her, but she was worried about him. She didn't know what to do for him and she was afraid to say anything else for fear of saying the wrong things and making him feel worse.

"I don't know, Helga," he said.

She leaned her head on his shoulder and he laid his head on hers.

"Does this mean you're gonna move back to your home town?" she asked sadly.

"No," he replied abruptly.

"Well, where are you going to live? You can't live by yourself, can you?" she asked, confused.

"Helga, my aunt was my last living relative, I have nowhere to go," he said seriously.

Helga thought about this for a moment then realized the perfect place for him to live.

"I know of a place for you to stay," she said hopefully.

"Do you think your parents would let me?" he asked.

"Why would my parents care?" she said.

She didn't realize he had thought she meant he would live at her house.

"I think they'd care if I lived with you and them," he said.

"Oh, no, that wasn't where I was talking about," she said, feeling silly.

"Oh. Where did you mean then?"

"It's a boarding house down the street called Sunset Arms. My friend Arnold used to live there. His grandparents still do, and I bet they'd be happy to take you in. We can go talk to them now if you want," she suggested, hopefully.

"That'd be great, thanks, Helga. I'm really glad I met you," he said, giving her a weak smile.

He had stopped crying by now and Helga stood up and reached her hand out for him to take. He stood up and took her hand. She led him to the boarding house. They reached the house and she knocked on the door. Arnold's grandpa Phil answered the door.

"Hey, you went to school with the shortman, right?" Phil asked.

"Yeah, I go to P.S. 118. Uh, listen, this is Dean. He goes to P.S. 118 too. His aunt died and he has no other family to live with-"

"Well, that's not right. Oh, I know, how about he moves in here!" he said.

"That's what we came to ask," Helga pointed out.

"Great, then it's settled. Pookie! We got a new boarder! Well don't be shy, come inside, I'll show you around."

The two walked inside and Phil showed them around. He showed them the bathroom, the kitchen, the living room, the phone, and the room for Dean.

"Howdy, Eleanor, whose the hair?" Arnold's grandma, Gertie, asked Helga, motioning toward Dean.

"This is Dean," she replied.

Dean looked at her confused. She just shrugged and he figured she would tell her later why Gertie was calling her Eleanor.

"Well, you should probably get your stuff. Come on, I'll drive ya," Phil said while grabbing his keys.

They headed to Dean's house and started packing his things. It took several trips to move all his stuff into his new room. When they finished, it was dinner time at the boarding house. They were having hamburgers. Phil and Gertie asked Helga to stay for dinner and she agreed for Dean's sake. All of the boarders made their way down to the table and took their seats. They introduced themselves to Dean.

"Hey, I'm Ernie."

"You can call me mister Hyunh."

"I am Oskar. Are you going to eat your burger?"

"Oh Oskar," said his wife Suzie, while rolling her eyes.

"I'm Suzie. I'm sorry about my husband, he never learned manners," she said while eyeing Oskar.

"And you've already met me and Pookie," said Phil.

They all ate dinner and everyone had many questions for Dean. They didn't know his situation. Ernie asked him what brought him to the boarding house and he told them. They all became silent and then began apologizing. After dinner Helga thanked Gertie for the meal then Dean walked her outside.

"Are you gonna be okay?" she asked.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and she put hers around his shoulders.

"Thanks to you," he said while smiling at her.

She smiled back and said, "It's no big deal."

"It is though, it's a huge deal. If it weren't for you, I don't know where I'd be right now."

She smiled and he kissed her tentatively. After they kissed she told him she had to go home before it got dark. They said goodbye and she went home and he went inside for his first night in his new home.


	9. Spring Break

**Here's another chapter for you all. I'm sorry it took so long to get it done. I had trouble thinking of what to write. I'm not sure what I think of it so let me know what you think. **

It didn't take long for Dean to adjust to living at the boarding house. His aunt was really strange so the people at the boarding house made him feel at home. He told Helga that his aunt died from old age. She was ninety seven years old. Helga had wished she had met his aunt before she passed. Dean didn't go to school for the first week after his aunt died. Helga came over every day after school to bring him his homework and make sure he was okay. He seemed a lot different. His eyes seemed cold and dark and his voice was a little less friendly. Helga expected him to be shaken up, but she didn't expect him to act so different. She accepted it anyway because she knew that he was grieving and she wanted to be there for him. She hoped he would go back to his old self when he was able to move on. Lila had told Helga that it was okay for her to spend all of her time with Dean until he felt better. Helga still managed to spend a couple days with Lila. After Dean came back to school, half of the class was afraid to talk to him for fear of saying the wrong thing and the other half would constantly bombard him with questions such as "How are you doing", "Do you need anything", or the girls asked a random question to be able to talk to him. Dean would mindlessly answer them and continue with whatever he was doing. He would never get irritated at them. Most of the time, he didn't even know they were there.

Meanwhile, Lila waited for her new friend Wilson to move into town. She couldn't wait for Helga and Phoebe to meet him. A month after Lila told Helga and Phoebe about him, he moved to town. He moved in on a Sunday and Lila didn't know it until the next day, Monday, when she saw him at school. She was at her locker getting her books out when he came up behind her and said hi to her. She turned around and was shocked to see him, but very happy as well.

"When did you move to town?" she asked while hugging him.

"My dad had been bringing our stuff down all week and yesterday we finished moving out of our old house and moved into town," he said as the two stopped hugging.

At that moment Lila spotted Helga walking to her locker.

"Come here I want you to meet my friend," she said while grabbing Wilson's wrist and pulling him towards Helga.

"Hey Helga," she said.

"What's up Lila," she said while grabbing her books.

"This is Wilson. Wilson this is Helga," she said while motioning towards the two.

"Nice to meet you, Helga," he said.

"Yeah, you too," she said without ever looking at him.

"Um, I have to get to class and talk to the teacher about something. I'll see you at lunch," he said while smiling.

"Okay, bye," she said very happily while waving.

She turned to Helga and asked her what she thought of Wilson.

"He's fine Lila," she said emotionlessly.

"What's the matter Helga?"

"Oh, I'm just upset that Dean won't cheer up and be his normal self again. I get that it's gonna take some time, but I miss his old, happy self."

"I'm sorry, Helga. I'm sure that he will be his old self before you know it," she said hopefully.

"I hope you're right," she said as the bell rang.

The two girls headed to class and took their seats. After everyone got to class Lila looked around, but didn't see Wilson anywhere and Mr. Simmons hadn't said anything about a new student. Helga looked at Lila and whispered 'where is Wilson' to Lila. Lila shrugged and looked at Helga worriedly. At lunch, Lila got her food and took her seat with Helga at their usual table. Not too long afterwards, Dean joined them. He usually sat there staring at his food and moved it around while occasionally taking a bite and a sip of milk. He hardly ever looked up, even to look at Helga. Helga was trying her best to be patient with him. Lila sat there and looked around for Wilson. She turned around to look and he came up and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and saw him sitting next to her.

"Where were you in class?" she asked worriedly.

She thought he might have ditched and she didn't like the idea of being friends with a bad boy.

"I guess I forgot to mention that I'm in the fifth grade," he said casually.

This got both Helga and Lila's attention.

"Not that it's a big deal or anything that you would date a girl a whole year younger than you, but," Helga said without finishing her sentence.

Wilson looked at her and said, "Oh I'm not a year older. I'm nine, like you both. I skipped fourth grade."

"Wow that's great, Wilson," Lila said excitedly.

She was relieved that he wasn't a bad kid and very happy that he is so smart.

"Yeah, that _is_ pretty cool," Helga said.

"It's no big deal. I guess that's why I didn't mention it."

"How did you manage to skip fourth grade?" Helga asked.

Nobody had noticed that Dean was still sitting there. Wilson kept glancing at him waiting for someone to introduce them.

"My school said that I was getting good enough grades so I could skip if I wanted. They thought I wasn't being "challenged" in school. I thought it'd be cool to skip a whole grade."

"That's wonderful, Wilson," Lila said sincerely.

Wilson smiled at her. Helga stared at Wilson for a moment just to take him in since she hadn't even looked at him when Lila introduced them. Helga had thought he wasn't the best looking guy, but he was kind of cute. He was perfect for Lila. Finally Helga looked at Dean and realized she never introduced the two boys. Dean didn't seem to care, but Helga figured Wilson would care.

"Oh by the way Wilson this is Dean, my boyfriend. Dean this is Wilson," she said.

"Nice to meet you," Wilson said.

Dean quietly managed to say, "You too," without looking up at Wilson.

Wilson looked to Lila and she whispered she would explain later. He shook his head and the lunch period ended. After school, Helga was at her locker when Dean came up to her and waited for her to put her books away. They usually walk home together. Dean had been feeling bad about how he had been acting. He knew he had a right to be sad, but he felt bad anyway.

"Helga?" he asked.

"Yeah?" she said while closing her locker and looking at him.

"I'm sorry," he said while looking down at his feet.

"Why are you sorry?"

"Because of the way I've been acting lately. It's not fair to you. You're my girlfriend, and I shouldn't ignore you all the time," he said while continuing to look at his feet.

"But you kind of have a right to act that way," she said while starting to walk to the front doors of the school.

"I guess. But I still think that I should treat you better no matter what happens in my life," he said while following her.

"No biggie. Does that mean you're feeling better?"

"I feel a little better, I guess, but I'm sure I'll feel like myself again soon," he said already sounding like his old self.

The two walked home hand in hand. This time, Helga didn't have to practically drag Dean down the sidewalk. He walked right next to her with his head facing forward instead of looking at the ground like he had been doing for the past month. As soon as the two got to Helga's house, they said bye to each other and Helga went inside and up to her room. She set her stuff down on the floor by her bed, grabbed her phone, and sat on her bed. She looked at her phone and it showed she had two messages: one from Lila and one from Phoebe.

**Can I come over Helga?** Lila asked.

**Sure.** Helga replied.

Phoebe's text said** Hey Helga! Gerald told me that Arnold was coming to visit for spring break in a couple weeks. **

Helga was excited to see her old friend, but also a bit nervous because not only was he going to meet her boyfriend, he was going to be staying under the same roof as him. She didn't want things to be awkward when she would go over there to hang out with Dean since she used to be in love with Arnold. The good thing about this was Arnold didn't know she used to love him so Dean would never know and she would be the only one to feel awkward. She texted Phoebe back and told her she hoped it wouldn't be weird.

**I don't think it will, Helga. After all, you and Arnold never had a real relationship and he never knew your secret, therefore, I think you have nothing to worry about between the three of you. **

Helga agreed and felt a little better. Lila finally showed up after Helga stopped texting Phoebe. Lila sat next to Helga on her bed and listened as Helga told her about what Dean said and how he was acting like his old self again. Then Helga told Lila about Arnold visiting during spring break.

"You're not still in love with him are you?" Lila asked.

"No, no, I just…don't want it to be awkward that's all."

"I don't think it will be awkward Helga. Unless you're still in love with Arnold," she said jokingly with a smile.

"I sure hope it won't and I have a boyfriend," she replied, playing along with Lila's joke.

She really wasn't in love with Arnold anymore, but she couldn't help but worry that Arnold might like her since the last time he visited he was flirting with her. Dean had never been faced with jealousy before and if it turned out Arnold liked Helga, she didn't know how Dean might react. She figured since he is such a nice guy that he would probably not do anything and not only that, but Arnold is also a nice guy and even if he likes her, he will back off when he sees she has a boyfriend. After a few minutes of going over this internal conflict, Helga snapped back to reality.

"Helga…" Lila said trying to get her attention.

"Huh, w-what?" she replied.

"I said that reminded me that I came over to tell you that Wilson and I have a date," she said sophisticatedly.

"Really? He asked you out already?" Helga asked shocked.

"Well, he didn't exactly…ask me…on a real…date," she said with an odd expression.

"Then what kind of date did he ask you on?"

"A, um, a study date," she replied while looking down at the floor.

"A _study_ date?" Helga said while trying not to laugh.

"Well it's something isn't it? After all, you and Dean started dating after you guys had a million study dates."

"They weren't study dates. I was just helping him catch up on his work."

"Still, spending time with him, no matter what we're doing, is going to make us closer," she said confidently.

After a while Lila went home. For the rest of the week, Dean had been slowly returning to his normal self. He still wasn't completely back to normal, but he was getting there. At lunch the four, Helga, Dean, Lila, and Wilson, would sit together and occasionally Phoebe and Gerald would join them. After a few days of joining them, Phoebe and Gerald sat with the four regularly. They had become a group, although they only sat together at lunch and the rest of the time, after school and weekends, they were usually not together other than once in a while. Lila was still waiting for Wilson to ask her out and was becoming convinced that he didn't like her the way she liked him. She decided to tell him she liked him. She did and he told her he liked her, but he was afraid she didn't like him back. With knowing she liked him out of the way, he finally asked her to be his girlfriend. Of course, she agreed.

It was Monday and there was less than a week left until Arnold came to visit. He was coming down on Saturday, and he was leaving the following Saturday. Helga wasn't sure what to say to Dean about Arnold visiting and she figured Arnold's grandpa probably forgot to mention anything to Dean so she casually brought it up at lunch.

"Did anyone at your house bother to tell you that Arnold is coming to visit?"

"Who is Arnold?" he asked.

Helga looked at him stunned that he didn't even know about Arnold.

"Arnold used to live in the boarding house. His grandpa and grandma live there. They never mentioned him?"

"I don't think so, but now that you mention it, I had seen a couple pictures around the house of some kid I'd never heard about."

"Was he blonde with a football shaped head?"

"Uh, yeah, that's him. So he's Arnold? When is he coming?"

"This Saturday. I figured no one told you and I thought you might like to know ahead of time," she said.

"Yeah," he replied.

After school Helga and Dean walked together like they always had. Dean was a lot more talkative now that he was feeling better.

"So tell me about this Arnold kid," he said.

"Uh, well, he's nice," she said.

"That's it?"

"He, uh, he's my friend, I guess. He's pretty cool. He's not bad at sports. His best friend is Gerald," she replied.

"Oh, cool," he said.

"Why?"

"I was just wondering since, you know, no one at the house bothered to mention him to me," he said with a smile that let her know he was making a joke out of it.

For the rest of the week, the six would spend lunch together and after school they would go their separate ways. Dean usually walked Helga home then went to his own house and Wilson and Gerald would do the same for Lila and Phoebe. Then after the boys left the girls, the girls would get together and hang out and the boys would get together and hang out as well and on the weekends either each individual couple would hangout or go on a date, or the group of six would hangout or go on a group date. Finally it was Friday, the day before Arnold's visit. Helga wasn't nervous, but she was a little excited since she hadn't seen him in a few months. Friday went by so fast that before she knew it it was already Saturday. The six planned to get together at the boarding house and wait for Arnold to get there then they would introduce Arnold to Dean and Wilson and then they would all go do something fun. The girls, Wilson, and Gerald met up on the way to the boarding house. Since Dean already lived there he waited for them at the house. They all got there and sat on the floor of the living room. They had waited an hour and Arnold still hadn't shown up yet. Dean suggested they play a board game while they wait. They decided to play Scrabble. Phoebe, Helga, and Wilson were very good at this game, but Gerald ended up winning. It was now three o'clock. It had been two and a half hours that they've waited for Arnold. Arnold's grandma Gertie had made everyone sandwiches. They all ate and then got out another board game. This time they played Pictionary. The teams were couples: Helga and Dean, Lila and Wilson, and Phoebe and Gerald. Dean and Helga won because of Dean's artistic ability. Phoebe, Lila, Gerald, and Wilson were picking on them because he was an artist and that meant he had an advantage. It had now been four hours since they started waiting for Arnold. Gerald said that Arnold told him he would be here around one thirty. It was now four thirty. They decided to play one more board game and if Arnold wasn't here by the time they were done they were all going to go home. They played a game that usually had no end, Monopoly. They picked this game because it would be the longest game and they could wait on Arnold until they were tired and ready to go home. They played for an hour until finally Phoebe lost. Not long after that Lila lost. Then Wilson lost and he and Lila decided to go home. Then Dean lost and finally Gerald lost and he and Phoebe went home. Helga had won and it was now six thirty. She helped Dean clean everything up and then she went home. She told Dean he didn't have to walk her home and he insisted, but finally he gave up after she continuously told him she would be okay walking by herself and she felt like having some alone time. They said bye and she walked out the door. She pulled it shut when suddenly her name was shouted. She turned around and there was Arnold and his parents pulling up to the boarding house.

"Arnold?"

"Hey Helga," he said while getting out of his parents car.

"Took ya long enough Football head," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, we got a late start and there was a lot of traffic and it didn't help that my mom had to go to the bathroom every five minutes," he said laughing.

"It was not every five minutes," she replied laughing with him as she stepped out of the car.

Helga understood now why it had taken them so long. Arnold's mom was pregnant. Arnold looked at Helga and noticed her looking at his mom with a shocked and also interested look on her face.

"Did Gerald forget to tell you guys?" Arnold asked while pulling his bag out of the back seat.

"I guess so. Is it gonna be a boy or a girl?"

"I dunno. My parents say they want to be surprised. I'm dying to know though," he said while walking towards Helga.

As he got closer to her he set his bag down and gave her a big hug. She hugged him back and they both said they missed each other.

"Have you ever officially met my parents Helga?"

"No, not exactly," she replied.

His dad grabbed the rest of the bags from the trunk and the back of the car and walked with his mom up to the kids.

"This is my mom and this is my dad," he said.

Helga shook both of their hands and told them her name.

"You can call me Miles," his dad said as they shook hands.

"And I'm Stella," his mom said warmly.

At this moment Dean walked outside.

"Helga you forgot your phone," he said while looking at the three strangers standing there.

He handed Helga her phone and she said thanks. Then she introduced Dean.

"Uh, this is Dean. Dean this is Arnold and his parents," she said.

They all said hi to each other and finally Dean said something.

"You probably didn't know that I live here now at the boarding house," he said.

"Oh cool," Arnold said.

He was looking forward to having a new friend to hang out with.

"Well, I have to go home so see ya later everyone," she said while leaving.

They all said bye to her and Dean helped with all of the bags. Helga had felt kind of awkward about the way that went. She had pictured it to go differently. She was glad the first meeting was over, now all she had to worry about was the two boys getting along. She went home and told Phoebe about Arnold showing up and his mom being pregnant and then Dean came out and met them.

Meanwhile, it was dinner time at the boarding house. So far Dean and Arnold had been getting along. After dinner they were hanging out in Arnold's room. Dean had never been in there and he was really intrigued about the contents of it. Arnold had asked Dean why he was living at the boarding house and Dean asked Arnold what his story was. They told each other about their lives and then Dean told Arnold about Wilson. He simply told him who Wilson was and then casually mentioned that he and Lila are dating. He then told Arnold how he, Helga, Lila, Wilson, Gerald, and Phoebe have made a group together.

"That's cool. So if Phoebe and Gerald are dating, and Lila has a boyfriend, what about you and Helga? Are you two dating anyone?" Arnold asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"Oh, who?"

"Each other," he replied.

Arnold paused for a moment before he replied.

"Oh that's great," he said sincerely.

Dean asked Arnold if he had a girlfriend and Arnold told him he didn't.

The next day the group got together to try their plan to hang out with Arnold again. They met at a pizza place that was just built. Dean and Arnold got there first and found a booth that was large enough for the seven of them. Lila and Wilson showed up next and Arnold and Wilson were introduced. Then Phoebe, Gerald, and Helga came. Arnold was sitting at the end of the booth. Gerald was next to him, Phoebe was next to Gerald, then Wilson sat next to Phoebe, Lila was next to Wilson, Dean was next to Lila, and Helga was sitting on the other end of the booth across from Arnold. She felt kind of awkward because she couldn't face forward or she would be looking at Arnold and every time she moved her feet she would kick his and she worried he would think she was doing that on purpose because every time her feet hit his she would look at him and he would smile and she would look back awkwardly. At one point he tapped on her foot with his as if to say 'it's my turn now' and he looked at her and smiled. They had ordered 2 pepperoni pizzas with olives and extra cheese and it took them no time to scarf them down.

After lunch, they headed to the boarding house since they planned to do that the day before. They all hung out until around eight when Phoebe and Lila had to go home. Their boyfriends, of course, walked them home and that left Helga, Dean, and Arnold. It wasn't as awkward as Helga had thought it would be until Arnold started asking them questions. He asked how long they had been together and they told him a few months. Then he asked how they met and they told him how Dean was new and had the seat in front of Helga and she helped him catch up on his work. At eight thirty Helga decided she'd better get home. Dean walked her. He wanted to ask her what was happening between her and Arnold at lunch, but he wasn't sure how to say it without sounding accusing.

"So at lunch, you and Arnold kept smiling at each other," he said.

"Yeah," she said trying to sound normal.

"Can I ask why?" he asked as nice as he could.

"Uh, sure, the table was cramped and I accidently kept kicking his feet," she replied.

He shook his head as if to say 'oh, okay.'

"Why?" she asked.

He looked at her with a strange, worried look on his face. Her expression became more serious. He took a breath before he answered.

"I just feel like, I dunno, like you guys had more going on than you said," he said.

"We don't, and we never did. I liked him in preschool, but that lasted about a day," she replied angrily.

His attempt to not upset her had failed.

"I didn't mean to make you mad, Helga. I just wanted to know because I get the feeling he likes you," he said.

They reached her house and she reassured him that he was the only person she wanted to like or be liked by. She was still mad that he would even think something like that, but at least she knew how he behaved when he became jealous.

Meanwhile at the boarding house Dean wanted to talk to Arnold and see if he was right about him liking Helga. Arnold was in his room and Dean knocked and came in. He was sitting at his computer.

"I've gotta talk to you," he said casually to Arnold.

"Okay," he said.

He got up, grabbed his remote, and flipped out the couch. Dean sat down and Arnold sat back down in his computer chair.

"Did something happen with you and Helga?" he asked.

"Yeah sort of," Dean replied.

"What happened?"

"We just had a little argument," he said.

"What about?"

"Well, it was…it was about you," he said awkwardly.

"Me?" Arnold said.

He was at a loss for words so he waited for Dean to tell him what happened.

"Yeah. I saw the way you two smiled at each other during lunch."

"What? No, no, no. She kept kicking my feet and I smiled at her to tell her it was okay that she kept kicking my feet," he said.

"I got that part, but I get the feeling that you like Helga and your smile meant a lot more than that," Dean said.

"I just like Helga as a friend. There were times when I thought Helga might like me, but I don't like her."

"Okay, I believe you. I just wanted to make sure," he said while he stood up and left.

The next day Helga felt bad about her and Dean's argument. She decided to go to the boarding house and try to make things better between them. She got there and rang the doorbell. Arnold's grandpa answered the door and told her Dean wasn't there and she could come in and wait if she wanted. It was about ten in the morning when she got there and she hadn't eaten breakfast because her mom and dad hadn't gone shopping in a while. She had gotten there just in time because Arnold's grandma was making waffles. Helga came in, grabbed a plate of waffles, and sat at the table. Arnold came down a few minutes later and joined Helga. The two started talking and Helga told Arnold about the argument she and Dean had. Arnold told her that he already knew about their argument.

"How did you know?" she asked him.

"Dean told me last night. He also told me that he thinks I like you…" he said feeling embarrassed.

"What? You mean he talked to you about that after I already told him nothing was going on between us?" she said angrily.

"Uh, yeah. He did. Listen, Helga, I don't want to cause any more trouble between the two of you so from now on when you guys want to hang out here let me know and I'll leave," he said.

"No it's okay. I'll just talk to him when he gets here."

She finished her waffles and cleaned up her mess as Dean walked in the door.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked happily.

"I felt bad about yesterday," she said emotionlessly.

Arnold excused himself so the two could talk.

"Me too. I'm sorry about what I said."

"You should be sorry about not believing me."

"What?"

"You didn't believe me. You had to ask Arnold."

"I asked him if he liked you that had nothing to do with what I asked you," he said in a sad tone.

"I know, but what would it matter if you asked him or not. Either way you're still my boyfriend."

"I'm sorry, Helga. I guess I was wrong."

He walked up and hugged her. She stood there for a moment then hugged him back. Helga got a text from Lila saying that she and Phoebe were going to a movie if she wanted to join. She agreed and left for the movie.

Dean went up to Arnold's room to talk to him. His intention was to apologize to him. Arnold's door was open and Dean walked in.

"Look Arnold, I'm sorry about yesterday," he said while holding onto the rest of his words.

"It's fine. I understand why you said that stuff I mean if I had a girlfriend like Helga I'd probably do the same thing."

"I still think you like her and I'd appreciate it if you stayed away from her," he said in a mean way.

"I can leave when she comes over to hang out with you, but Helga's my friend and if she wants to hang out with me then that's up to her."

"If she wants to hang out with you then you can tell her no."

"She's my friend I can't just stop being friends with her."

"If you know what's good for you you can," Dean said threateningly.

"Is that a threat?"

"It is if you want to continue being friends with _my_ girlfriend. I know you like her and I don't want you around her."

"Okay, fine. I won't hang out with Helga."

Dean left after that and went to his room.

* * *

The next day was Tuesday, and Helga was walking around town by herself. She ran into Arnold who was also walking around town. Arnold wasn't sure if he should tell Helga about what happened or if he should just keep walking. He decided not to tell her what he said, but he couldn't just stand by and let her continue on clueless about her boyfriend.

"Helga I just wanted to say, I think you should be careful."

"What d'ya mean?"

"I just mean be careful. He isn't who you think he is."

He walked away without letting her say anything. Helga wasn't sure what she meant and she wanted to know what he wasn't telling her. She ran up to him and asked him what he was talking about.

"Arnold _what_ are you talking about?" she demanded.

Arnold thought about what to say. He never did promise not to say anything, he only promised not to hang out with her.

"Dean is jealous of me. He thinks I like you and he doesn't want me to hang out with you."

"What did he say?"

"He told me if I knew what was good for me I wouldn't hang out with you. Helga, he's a jerk and I think you should break up with him."

She stared at him shocked. She thought he might be making that up because he liked her. Arnold wasn't the kind of person to hide his feelings so she shook the thought away.

"He's never acted that way when I'm around."

"Maybe because he's never been jealous and he wouldn't want you to know about it."

Helga shrugged and Arnold said he'd see her later. She decided not to say anything to Dean about it. She didn't want to believe Arnold, but he wasn't a liar. She figured as long as he didn't do anything to hurt anyone that it wouldn't matter and if she had said something he might hurt Arnold. When Helga got home she texted Phoebe and Lila and asked what to do. They were clueless for once. She decided not to do anything and if the situation called for it she would do something. She wasn't going to let Dean tell her who she can and can't hang out with, though.

The next day the group of seven were going bowling together. Arnold got to the bowling alley first. He and Dean felt weird around each other after what happened. Helga got there next and Arnold tried to convince her to not sit by him until the rest come because he didn't want to cause more trouble between them. Helga sat right next to him and didn't budge. Every time Arnold tried to get up Helga would pull him back down or ask him to stay seated.

"Arnold, I'm not gonna let anyone tell me who I can or can't hang out with."

"Okay, Helga."

"Besides, I wanna see if he's gonna act the way you said he would."

Lila and Wilson showed up next and Helga asked them to wait at the snack bar all the way across the room. They didn't understand why, but they went anyway. Helga hoped that Dean would show up next, but he didn't. Phoebe and Gerald did. Gerald was hungry and the two went to the snack bar. Helga was glad she didn't have to ask them to wait over there, but she was becoming impatient waiting for Dean. Finally he showed up and saw the two hanging out. Dean apologized for being late and he sat by Helga. He didn't seem to care that Helga was sitting with Arnold. After a few minutes Lila, Wilson, Phoebe, and Gerald joined them and they all got their shoes and balls and began a game. When it was Dean's turn, Arnold told Helga that Dean was faking. Helga didn't believe him. Every time it was Dean's turn, Arnold would try to convince Helga that she shouldn't be with Dean and that he was faking. She continued not to believe him.

After they were done bowling and everyone left, Dean and Arnold started talking. Dean wasn't mad like Arnold thought he would be.

"I thought you didn't want me and Helga to be friends."

"I don't."

"Then why aren't you mad?"

"I don't know, I guess I just realized that I was being immature. After all, Helga would never leave me for _you._"

Arnold was insulted. He crossed his arms and furrowed his brows. He didn't want to make a scene so he got up and left.

For the rest of spring break Arnold and Dean felt uncomfortable as they passed each other at the house. Arnold wasn't going to give up trying to get Helga to see that Dean was hiding a side of himself. Helga wasn't convinced. On Saturday, Arnold was getting ready to go back home. Phoebe, Gerald, Lila, Wilson, and Helga all came to say bye to him. They all said bye and started to leave when Arnold asked Helga to stay back for a moment. Dean walked outside as he hugged her. She hugged him back. She pulled back but the two kept their arms around each other. Arnold was trying to make Dean jealous to prove to Helga that he wasn't lying. It didn't seem to be working so Arnold tried the one thing he thought would work. He kissed Helga. He knew that anyone would get jealous over that, but he wanted to prove that Dean was a jerk who couldn't control his temper. Dean immediately jumped up and pulled the two apart. Helga fell to the ground and Dean punched Arnold in the eye. Arnold fell to the ground as well.

Dean shouted, "I told you to stay away from her!"

Helga got up and tried to get Dean to calm down. Dean pushed her away from him and yelled at her to go home. She told him he needed to go home and she would talk to Arnold. Dean didn't want to leave her with Arnold, but he finally left anyway. Arnold was still sitting on the ground. Helga helped him up and apologized.

"Are _you_ okay, Helga?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Are you?"

"I will be."

"I guess you were right."

"I sort of wish I wasn't, but you're better off without him."

"What do you mean without him?"

"You're gonna break up with him aren't you?"

Her expression didn't change.

"Why would you stay with him after that?"

"He's a good guy. It's like with you and me. I was always mean to you, but you still knew I was good."

"But you never physically hurt me like he did to you, and me."

"I know, but he's a good person. Besides, anyone would react that way to someone kissing their "girlfriend."

"But he pushed _you_ and yelled at _you_. And he said 'I told you to stay away from her' which proves that he told me not to hang out with you anymore."

"I guess you're right, but that doesn't change anything."

Arnold sighed and said, "If you say so, Helga. I did everything I could, but if your serious then I guess I'll just let you do whatever makes you happy. Bye, Helga."

"See ya football head," she said nicely.

Arnold got into his car and waited for his parents. Helga went home and texted Phoebe and Lila to come over. She told them what happened and they freaked out. Helga started thinking about the day's events so far. She thought about how much it hurt when Dean reacted the way he did. Then she thought about how Arnold must feel. Then she thought if she was doing the right thing by not breaking up with Dean. He seemed to need her especially after what happened. Then she thought about Arnold kissing her. She found herself smiling at the thought. During the kiss she remembered feeling shocked and then feeling like the rest of the world disappeared, even Dean.

_Do I still like Arnold? _She thought.

"What are you thinking about Helga?" Lila asked.

"I was just thinking about today. Why?" she replied defensively.

"Because you looked upset then you looked happy then you looked afraid."

Helga looked down at her hands and avoided eye contact with the two girls.

"Helga is there something you want to talk about?" Phoebe asked.

Helga took a breath and said, "Well, uh, I think, uh, um-"

Phoebe and Lila looked at each other and said in unison, "Spit it out, Helga."

"Okay," she took another breath, "I think I might still have feelings for Arnold."


	10. Summer Vacation

Lila wasn't happy to hear that Helga still liked Arnold, but Phoebe was secretly happy about it. She always thought Helga and Arnold would end up together and she still had hopes that they would.

The next day Dean came over and told Helga he was sorry about what happened. She understood, of course, but he didn't like that she had to witness it.

* * *

It was going to be summer in a couple of weeks. Dean, Helga, Wilson, Lila, Phoebe, and Gerald were still a usual group. They were still together as couples too. Arnold hadn't visited again since spring break. Since then, Helga had thought a lot about Arnold. She realized she never actually stopped liking him; she just didn't feel anything because she didn't see him anymore or think about him. When he would come around she denied her feelings, especially after she started dating Dean. She tried her hardest to cover up her feelings for Arnold. She didn't love him anymore, but she did really like him. It wasn't that hard for her to hide her feelings for Arnold and after a while of not seeing him again, she stopped thinking about him.

Helga was really happy when Phoebe came over seeming upset and told her the news.

"Gerald is going to summer camp for the whole entire summer," she said with a sad expression as Helga let her in.

"That's really not that bad of news Pheebs," she said while closing the door and following Phoebe to her room.

"Are you _kidding? _It's terrible news, Helga!" she said while entering Helga's room and throwing herself face down on Helga's bed.

"It's only for the summer, Pheebs, it's not like he's moving," she said. This made her think about Arnold. She immediately shook the thought away and sat on the bed.

"I know, but we haven't been apart for that long before and I'm worried he will meet another girl or decide he doesn't like me anymore or maybe I'll meet another guy or figure out that I don't like him," she said into Helga's pillow.

"Please, Phoebe. You're being ridiculous. Tall-hair boy could never do better than you and you like him so there's no reason you'll stop liking him out of nowhere."

"I suppose you're right, Helga," she said while turning around and sitting up.

"This does mean that you, me, and Lila will be able to hang out all summer."

"What about Dean and Wilson?"

"They will just have to deal with the fact that it's a girl's summer for us. Maybe we can talk them into going to that camp with Gerald."

"Well, there's just one problem with that, Helga."

"What?"

"Arnold's gonna be there."

"Oh…that could be a problem. Well maybe we just won't tell them. Besides, Wilson doesn't have a problem with Arnold and maybe this will be their chance to clear the air and become friends."

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Helga? I don't think you should lie to Dean like that."

"Trust me, it'll be fine, but at this camp...you said there were girls?"

"Oh they're across the lake at their own cabins. The only time the boys and girls can see each other is when they have camp activities or competitions. Gerald said that sometimes the counselors will bring the girls to the guys camp just for fun or the guys to the girls camp."

"Oh. Good."

Phoebe looked at Helga with a sly look. She knew what Helga was thinking. She was worried for the same reason as Phoebe: she thought Dean might meet someone else. Helga was a lot more insecure than Phoebe, though.

"Well, let's go talk to the boys about this, and we should probably ask Lila if she's cool with it, too."

"Going!"

The girls first stopped by Lila's to ask her if she would be okay with their plan. She was excited about it because the three girls haven't ever spent that much time together without boyfriends. She, of course, was a little worried about her and Wilson because their relationship was still new and she didn't want to ruin it by being apart for so long or anything like that. She didn't think too much about that. Instead, she went with the girls to talk to Dean and Wilson. They talked to Wilson first because they figured if he was going, Dean would go because they're becoming very good friends. Before they went to Wilson's house, they went to get Gerald to help with the convincing. They headed to Wilson's after they got Gerald to go with. Gerald was hard to convince because he knew about the feud between Arnold and Dean. He went anyway because Phoebe asked him.

They got to Wilson's and talked to him about going to camp. He wasn't very sure about it because he wasn't really an athletic person and there were a lot of competitions that involved athletics. He decided he'd go if that was what Lila wanted and if Dean was going too. The girls asked Wilson to go with to Dean's house to ask him about camp. He agreed and they headed over. They got there and Helga told Dean about their plan and told him about the camp. Phoebe and Lila tried to throw things in here and there that would convince him more. After a couple minutes he was convinced, mostly because Wilson and Gerald were going. He never asked about whether or not Arnold would be there because he assumed he wouldn't, and that was a mistake.

* * *

The two weeks went by quickly, but not quick enough. Every day that passed, Helga worried that Dean would ask if Arnold would be there and refuse to go when he found out he would. He never asked. The three boys were leaving for summer camp in a week. All six of them, Phoebe, Gerald, Wilson, Lila, Helga, and Dean, spent that whole week together. They were all so excited for summer and the boys were looking forward to camp except for Gerald because he was dreading Dean's reaction when he finds out Arnold will be there.

Monday was the day that the bus would come to take the boys to camp. That day couldn't come soon enough for the girls, mostly Helga. They were excited for some girl time and they couldn't wait for them to go so they could get back and hear about their trip. The girls thought about going to an all-girl camp a couple times, but they just didn't want to. On Monday, the girls went with the boys to the bus stop to send them off. They hugged and kissed goodbye and the girls watched the boys' bus drive off as they waved. After the bus was out of sight the girls jumped for joy and began walking around town. They spent the day walking around town, getting food, talking, and trying to decide whose house they should sleep over at first.

* * *

Meanwhile, the boys were still on the bus. They had made a few stops so far, but none of them could see who got on or off. The bus was crowded with screaming boys all over blocking the aisle. The camp was ten hours away and they left Hillwood at 7 o'clock in the morning. It was about lunch time when the bus pulled over at a fast food restaurant. Everyone went in and ordered burgers, fries, and drinks. Wilson, Gerald and Dean sat together with a couple of other boys who talked way too much and neglected to mention their names. Suddenly a boy with blonde hair and a blue hat on walked by and sat at the table with a couple of boys.

"What is _he_ doing here?" Dean whispered to Gerald.

"Who? Arnold?" Gerald asked while taking a bite of his burger.

"Yeah, no one told me _he_ would be here."

"You're not gonna go all kung fu on him again are ya? 'Cause you gotta spend the whole summer together and it's not gonna be fun if you two are fightin' all the time."

"No, I'm not gonna beat him up. I just wanted to have fun and not have to be around _him_ all the time."

"Arnold's a pretty reasonable guy, I bet if ya talk to him ya can work it all out and never have to talk to him the whole summer."

"He's the last person I want to talk to. I'm just going to ignore him and if he wants to talk then he can come to me."

"Okay, man, just don't get kicked out of camp."

The group of what seemed like 50 campers finally finished their food and got back on the bus. Wilson and Dean headed to their seats and Gerald went to find Arnold. Dean and Wilson got on the bus first to avoid confrontation with Arnold. Gerald sat with Arnold for the rest of the way there. Thankfully the counselors had brought a bunch of snacks with them in case the kids get hungry.

After five more hours of being on the bus they finally reached their destination. All of the campers got off the bus, grabbed their luggage and waited for the counselors to assign them to their cabins. A bunch of unfamiliar kids names were called until a familiar one was heard.

"Wilson. Is there a Wilson here?" yelled a tall man through a bullhorn.

"I'm Wilson," he said while raising his hand.

"You'll be in cabin 12," he said while pointing with his bullhorn towards the cabin.

Wilson waited to see who would be in his cabin with him.

"Arnold. Is there an Arnold?"

"Right here," Arnold said.

"You'll be in cabin 12."

Dean looked at Wilson with a look of pity. Wilson didn't know Arnold very well and didn't understand why Dean hated him so much. Dean told him about what happened with him, Arnold and Helga, but he didn't see what was wrong with Arnold before that happened.

"I sure hope I'm not in that cabin. I guess it'd be cool if I was since you'll be there, but man I don't like him."

"Gerald. Where is Gerald?" yelled the counselor.

"Over here," he said while waving.

"You'll be in cabin 12."

There was one last kid in cabin 12 that the boys didn't know.

"Dean. Is Dean here?"

"Yeah, over here," he said while lifting his arm halfway up then dropping it.

"You'll be in cabin 13," the man said while pointing to the cabin with his bullhorn.

He didn't care who would be in the cabin with him, but nobody seemed to be going to their cabins so he stood there and waited for the counselor to finish cabin assignment. The other counselors were getting out supplies and things they would need for camp. They had a bunch of bundles that were for each person. After everyone had a room the counselors had the kids form three lines in front of each of the three counselors. They handed out a bundle to each of the kids and after they had their bundle they were allowed to go to their rooms and get settled, then go explore the camp. Dean got his bundle and headed for his cabin. There were two bunk beds in the room. He picked the bunk by the window and set his things on the bottom bunk. He unraveled his bundle to see what was inside. There was a mini flashlight, a can tine, a mini first aid kit, a map of the camp, and a list of activities available and times. He wrapped it all back up in the case and stuck that along with his bag under his bed. Two kids who looked alike walked in. They were both short with blonde, curly hair, and fair skin. The one on the left looked to Dean.

"Hi, I'm Doug and this is my brother, Ralph."

"Hey, I'm Dean."

"Looks like you got the best bunk."

Dean looked around before answering, "I guess so."

The two boys walked over to the other bunk bed and began arguing over who got the top bunk. Doug won. He seemed to be tough and assertive while Ralph seemed like Doug's shadow. Ralph sat on his bed and Doug shoved his bag under Ralph's bed and climbed up to his bed.

"So where are you from?" Doug asked.

"I live in a town called Hillwood. It's ten hours away."

"I've heard of Hillwood. We live in a town not too far from there. It's about an hour away from there."

"That's cool."

Dean thought about that then remembered Arnold only lives an hour away from Hillwood.

"Do you know Arnold? The kid in the cabin next door?"

"Yeah, we know him. He's not our friend, but we know who he is."

"So you wouldn't know if he ever talks about a girl named Helga?"

"I don't think we've heard about anyone named Helga. Why?"

"She's my girlfriend and I think he likes her. Sometimes I think she likes him too. He kissed her and I punched him."

Doug stared wide eyed and Ralph looked up at Dean.

"That's so messed up, man," said Doug and Ralph.

"You're telling me. We were friends before I realized he liked her."

At that moment a bell rang and a voice called out saying it was time for dinner.

"I guess that means we don't get a fourth person in our cabin. That's kind of weird," said Dean.

"I heard some kid got homesick after room assignments and his mom came to get him. He must've been in this cabin," said Doug while getting up to go to the cafeteria for dinner.

The three went to the cafeteria together and got food. The food was served on a buffet and they had various choices. There was salad with toppings and dressing choices, entrees such as sandwiches, soup, hamburgers, or pizza, and desert such as pudding, jell-o, frozen yogurt, or fruit. They got their food and sat down. They talked and talked and after their plates were empty, Dean got up and threw his food away and headed back to the cabin while Doug and Ralph got some more food.

On his way back to the cabin, Dean ran into Arnold heading back to his cabin. Arnold of course wanted to talk to him, but Dean just wanted to go relax and look over the schedule of activities.

"Come on, I just want to talk," Arnold said.

"Fine, but I want to talk first."

Arnold motioned for him to go ahead.

"I know you like Helga and I don't like that. She's my girlfriend, but you kissed her anyway. I wouldn't have acted so mean to you if you didn't act like Helga was going to run from me to you."

"I'm sorry you feel that way. I don't like Helga, I mean, of course I like her, but only as a friend. I really care about her. I didn't mean to offend you and I admit I crossed the line when I kissed her. I wasn't thinking and it was the wrong thing to do and I'm sorry, but I would never steal her from you even if I did like her."

"It was big of you to apologize I guess, but that doesn't mean I forgive you or that I want to be friends with you. It just means we can get through the summer without ripping each other apart."

"Agreed, but I do hope someday we can be friends or something like that."

"Whatever, let's just get through the summer." Dean said in an almost friendly tone.

Arnold walked back to his cabin and Dean went to his. It wasn't late, but Dean fell asleep before Doug and Ralph came back.

His last thought before he went to sleep was 'This is going to be a long summer.'


End file.
